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Camp Columbus in Owasco sold for $950K

The Citizen - 2/18/2023

Feb. 17—The future is uncertain for Camp Columbus, a 5.3-acre summer camp for people with disabilities on the edge of Owasco Lake, after it was sold this month by its owner and operator of more than 50 years.

Mozaic, the nonprofit previously known as the Arc of Seneca Cayuga, sold the two Owasco properties comprising the camp to RMP Properties for $950,000, according to Cayuga County property records. The full 2022 market value of the 4995 and 4999 Rockefeller Road properties is $1,126,190. The sale closed Feb. 7, and Mozaic announced it in a news release embargoed until Friday.

In the release, Mozaic said it received an "unsolicited offer" for the camp, which the nonprofit's board of directors and the Arc New York Board of Governors gave "careful consideration." The board of directors ultimately approved the sale because of an analysis that showed Mozaic was losing $100,000 each six-week camp, the nonprofit said, and because of "the ever-looming staffing crisis."

Speaking to The Citizen, Matt Chalanick of RMP Properties declined to comment on the nature of the real estate investment group's offer to Mozaic. Chalanick, owner of The Real Estate Agency in Auburn, also said the group has yet to decide what it will do with the camp. Continuing to use it as a camp and reselling it are both possible, depending on the results of the group's research.

"We have to do our due diligence and go through the proper steps," he said. "We haven't been too specific about what we're actually going to do because we wanted to close first and go from there."

Mozaic, which serves people with disabilities in Cayuga, Seneca, Yates and Tompkins counties, called the sale of the camp a "difficult decision." Opened as a Catholic camp by St. Alphonsus Church in 1933, it was purchased in the late 1960s by the nonprofit, then known as the Comprehensive Training Center. The camp saw people of all ages and abilities make friends and grow as individuals, Mozaic said, while participating in activities like baseball, fishing, water sports and music and drama classes. The campgrounds feature two sports fields, a playground, a cafeteria and an arts and crafts building.

"There is no denying that Camp Columbus made a huge impact on those supported by Mozaic and others throughout the community," the nonprofit said.

Mozaic said it will explore moving summer camp activities to its 180 North St. location, which will be renovated using proceeds from the sale. The nonprofit's Spotlight Studios arts program will also be moved there from its current location in the former Nolan's Sporting Goods building on Genesee Street in downtown Auburn. Additional expanded programming is possible as well.

"Mozaic continues to look forward to new and improved ways to enrich the lives of the individuals they support," it said. "Providing opportunities to make great memories like the memories made at Camp Columbus is something that is extremely important to Mozaic and part of their mission, which is to provide lifelong opportunities that support people with diverse abilities on their path to success."

Lake Life Editor David Wilcox can be reached at (315) 282-2245 or david.wilcox@lee.net. Follow him on Twitter @drwilcox.

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