Fort Elsewhere: We're Building the Getaway Campground of Your Dreams!
Fort Elsewhere is a beautiful slice of heaven secluded in Vernon County, Missouri, just a short drive from the crossroads at Nevada. With easy access from Kansas City, Springfield, Joplin, and Witchita, Fort Elsewhere is a perfect location for gatherings, weddings, events, and more!
Fort Elsewhere already offers primitive camping, canoeing, hunting, fishing, and nature walks around our 124-acre campus. But this is just the start of our plan. Now we setting a singular stage for your wedding, reunion, re-enactment, star gazing, or event of every other description.
This is where you come in! With your help, we can fast track the first phase of the property's development. Become an early sponsor and put your mark on the property so that our guests will see your generosity for generations to come, or claim a priority time for your church, family, community, or corporate event as soon as the venue is open!
The Master Plan
Fort Elsewhere will be developed in 5 phases:
- Phase 1 - Medieval Fortress Town
- Phase 2 - Viking Village
- Phase 3 - Frontier Main Street
- Phase 4 - Themed Cabins
- Phase 5 - Outdoor Event Space, themed gardens, and hiking trails
All of these phases will be really cool, but this fundraiser is about Phase 1. Look for future fundraisers to put your mark on the remaining phases!
Phase 1 - Medieval Fortress Town
This phase is the creation of a medieval-inspired event space in three terraces: Low Town, Market Square, and High Town.
- Low Town will feature small primitive cabins in the style of medieval huts, providing comfortable overnight housing for large groups and youth camps.
- Market Square will recreate the bustling atmosphere of the heart of a medieval town. Here, visitors can try their hand at a variety of period trades and crafts. The Square will be anchored on one end by a functioning Tavern, and on the other with a medieval style Inn that has all the modern amenities.
- The street leading up to the gates of the Fortress will be lined with charming, climate-controlled, year-round cottages, forming High Town, perfect for your VIPs, staff, or family gatherings. Each cottage will have its own bathroom and kitchenette.
Fort Elsewhere itself will be a stylized recreation of a 13th century Motte featuring a great hall designed to accomodate up to 200 guests with all the supporting facilities. The Lord and Lady suites atop the hall and the chambers below offer luxury unheard of in the middle ages to wedding parties and overnight events.
Phase 1 is already underway. Our next steps are graveling the drive way, running a power line, and building the Inn and Tavern. Here are details on each part:
Part 1 - finish the driveway and run a power line: $18,000
Sitting 3/4 of a mile back from the main road, cutting a driveway out of what has been field and bog has not been easy, especially given the historically rainy year we've had! These funds will be used to gravel the driveway and install a power line.
Stretch Goal! Part 2 - The Inn and Tavern: $60,000
The Medieval Fortress Town will have a market square, high town, low town, Fortress and fort walls. The anchors of the market square are the Inn and Tavern, and we are planning to build these two buildings first. Using hay bale construction, we plan to make affordable and durable buildings that evoke a medieval feeling while being comfortable year-round. These funds will be used to construct these two primary buildings.
After Part 2 is done, Fort Elsewhere will be ready to host your event, with overnight accomodations for 30 people.
Stretch Goal! Part 3 - High Town: $15,000
The upper class deserve the finer things in life, and that means they get cabins away from the riff-raff. In this phase we will build 4 individual cabins, each capable of sleeping 5-10 people. Each cabin will be two stories with seperate living and sleeping spaces and have its own bathroom and kitchenette.
Stretch Goal! Part 4 - The Fort and Walls: $??,???
We can't be Fort Elsewhere without a Fort! In this phase we will raise money to build a stone fort at the entrance of the Medieval village, and a wall encompassing the village. Featuring multiple stories and a beautiful entry way, this will be an incredible location to hold your wedding, feast, or house the royalty traveling with you on your adventure! Everything we raise after our first goals are reached will be allocated toward building the Fort itself.
What you Get
As a thank you to everyone who supports Fort Elsewhere we have some great gifts to share with you:
- Swag
- Recognition
- Storage
- Priority Booking
- Discounts for the group or event of your choice
Here are more details about these great rewards!
Group Discounts
Every contribution made to Fort Elsewhere will earn a group or event of your choice a credit towards their site fees. Every $1.00 contributed equals $1.50 credit, so let us know the group or event that you wish to give your credit to when you make your contribution!
Recognition and Storage: The Inn, Tavern, and Cemetary
Every contribution counts towards meeting our goal, and some contributions leave an impression that will be visable for the world to see! There are three areas of the Medieval Fortress Town where you can leave your mark: the Inn, the Tavern, and the Cemetary!
In the Inn you have the option of customizing a 12"x12" section of tapestry that will be custom made to decorate the walls, or the option to customize the door to a cubby or cupboard that you then have exclusive access to for a 5 year period! This means that if you want to store gear to use when you come to visit or explore with a group on a regular basis you will have less to pack!
The Tavern will also have tapestries for customization and storage as well, but the storage will have a themed twist! In the Tavern the storage will be camoflauged in the form of wine racks and wine barrels!
Since no medieval village would be complete without someplace to put the victims of maurading bandits, famine, or the black plauge, the final place to leave your mark will be the mock cemetary. Add a name to our pauper's grave wall, customize a wooden grave marker and leave buried treasure behind for curious explorers to find, or choose to have a masoleum built, with a door that you can customize, and spacious storage inside that you have exclusive access to! We are also offering a limited number of deluxe masoleums, with special features that are secret to everyone but those who grab them first! This fun and spooky way to create ambiance in the village is one you can't pass up!
Priority Booking
Make a contribution to get first dibs on one of our buildings! Have the perfect day picked out for that event, retreat, or wedding? Grab it first with priority booking as a perk! Know when you want to have your family reunion for the next few years? Make sure no one else takes your date and get a discount on your site fees!
Other Ways You Can Help
Love the project but not able to contribute? We understand, and appreciate your enthusiasum! Please considering spreading the word about our project on Social Media and telling your friends how great Fort Elsewhere is! Recruit friends that donate at least $5,000.00 and mention your referal and we will give you a swag pack and a gravemarker!
Joe and Jovanna Bearden