Commissioners interested in taking control of former CCC site

With approval from the Presque Isle County Board of Commissioners, a letter of interest is being sent to the Michigan Department of Natural Recourses in an effort to stop demolition of the 13 buildings at the Ocqueoc Outdoor Center and to gain some time so other options can be explored. The DNR plans to flatten the facilities of the former Michigan United Conservation Clubs in early December.

County Development Commission director Mary Ann Heidemann told the county commissioners the DNR will still proceed if they don?t receive a letter of interest. A draft letter presented by Heidemann, which was presented at the November 12 meeting, ?reflect(s) the county?s interest in acquiring control of the site,? Heidemann said. Control could come in the form of a lease with the DNR or the transfer of property. County officials will be looking for some kind of response before the last meeting in November.

The facility started as a Civilian Conservation Corps camp in the early 1930s and was open for eight years before being closed in 1941. MUCC and county 4-H, as well as other groups, have used the facilities for different events through 2002. County commissioners would like to delay demolition so they can better assess what needs to be done to preserve the site, or prepare it for another group or organization to take it over.

HEIDEMANN TOLD the commissioners a group of county representatives met with DNR officials in Roscommon the previous week. ?(They) are willing, and somewhat eager, to get the site out of their hands,? Heidemann said. ?They are open to the possibility of Presque Isle County assuming control of the site.? The board has the support of the Ocqueoc Township board, which voted unanimously to back the county?s efforts in acquiring the historic site. Township supervisor Larry Foster said if the county gets the buildings, they could be put to use and rented to groups, ?rather than tear them down.?

Heidemann said there are several questions that need to be answered including what terms the DNR will put in place to transfer the property. ?The trouble I have with the DNR is if they want to tell us we have to spend $200,000 a year on the camp,? said board chairman Allan Bruder. ?There?s no way we can do that.?

THE PI TOURISM COUNCIL has drafted a letter expressing an interest in preserving the site and an offer has been made by the group ?to be an operations manager at the site,? Heidemann said. ?These are just offers.? The buildings of varying size, which appear to include a couple of original structures from the 1930s and 1940s, also include some new buildings. Among the new buildings is an A-frame log structure which was used as a one-room classroom. It?s located next to a recently constructed gun range shelter. The office/first aid building isn?t very old, and metal roofs were put on the hall and barracks buildings, but pieces of the exterior of the same buildings are falling off.

In addition, the grounds have been unattended for some time. ?If there?s a roof on the building and a foundation underneath, chances are it?s not going to fall down tomorrow,? said Bruder. ?We can maintain them if there are not strings attached to them.

?I THINK THE county can do it…(we) probably can find some interested citizens that might even give us some money or time to work on them.? There was some concern about the well water but it

was later learned that the equipment on the well needs replacing. The septic system also was recently redone. Bruder believes the buildings may stand for another 20 years. ?The buildings are not falling down, or are anywhere near it,? he said.

?I object to the fact that the DNR claims ownership,? said District 1 commissioner Bob Schell. ?The DNR doesn?t own anything. They are owned by the state of Michigan and are public property. They are owned by the citizens,? Schell continued. ?The only thing the DNR is, is a caretaker. They don?t have the right to tear down public buildings without taking public input.?

Schell asked prosecutor Don McLennan if a local injunction could stop ?destruction? of the buildings. McLennan said any suit against the DNR would have to be filed in Lansing. ?If you chained yourself to a tree and refused to vacate the property, they would have to file suit in this county against us,? Schell remarked.