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| Camp Cornplanter Permanently Closing
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| Carole McNall in The Olean Times Herald, 1985
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| Just under a year ago, officials for Camp Cornplanter were optimistic that the camp could reopen in 1985, despite financial problems which kept it
closed in 1984. Now, however, it appears those financial problems will permanently close the camp, which had offered a summer camping program for the
mentally retarded.
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| Robert Keim, president of the board of directors of the non-profit corporation, confirmed Monday that the corporation is legally dissolving itself,
a final step toward closing the camp forever. "It got to the point where we could not financially run the place," Mr. Keim said, adding, "we couldn't
charge in camper fees what we had to keep the camp open."
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| Camp Cornplanter, located in the Allegheny National Forest, was built in the mid 1930s. It first served as a fresh air
camp, then as a camp for YMCA/YWCA and church groups. In 1959, the Warren County ARC acquired the camp as a residential facility for the mentally retarded.
The non-profit corporation was set up in 1962.
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| Originally, Mr. Keim noted, seven counties sponsored the camp. At its closing, that was just down to three: Cattaraugus in N.Y.,
and McKean and Elk in Pa. Each of the three provided $1,000. The other counties, the board president said, had withdrawn because of financial problems.
The withdrawl added to the camp's own problems. In addition, Mr. Keim noted, volunteer labor, on which the camp depended heavily, became much more difficult
to obtain. "We used to have volunteer help," Mr. Keim said, "but people don't volunteer like they used to."
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| Just as the available money and volunteer labor was decreasing, the costs of operating the camp were increasing. In recent
years, the number of adult campers increased and the functioning level of those campers decreased. The ReHabilitation Center of Olean had been offering assistance
to Camp Cornplanter Inc. in operating the camp. The need for additional support and service to the campers came at the same time the camp's available funding
was decreasing.
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| Mr. Keim noted the camp's facilities were beginning to age and need replacement. Funds for those, and a sewage system required
by government environmental groups, cannot be raised privately, he said. Federal budget cuts have made it unlikely, he added, that the camp would acquire a
grant to do the necessary rehabilitation of the facilities. When grants are still being offered, they are unlikely to be given to Camp Cornplanter because the
camp does not own the land on which it sits. The camp did, however, have a lease with the U.S. Forest Service.
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| "We've served a purpose for 25 years," said Patrick Carroll of the ReHabilitation Center, "and, we did not want to jeopardize
campers with a program we're not comfortable with." But, he said, the decision was not an easy one. Aware that there are no similar facilities in the area, the
board and representatives from the ReHabilitation Center looked at alternatives to keep the camp open, including the idea of a longer season. In the end,
none proved feasible, he said.
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| Mr. Carroll said he hoped the camp's closing would force a look at using already available recreational facilities for the mentally retarded.
"I think this will force people to take a look at the alternatives," he said. "I think they are there." It's very difficult to say we can't continue with something that's been
operating for 25 years," he added, "but there weren't any choices."
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