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8 July 2023
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — A historic campground once belonging to The Salvation Army has a new owner. The Greater Wichita YMCA purchased Camp Hiawatha for over $2 million after a three-month-long sealed bid auction.
The YMCA plans to continue the long-standing tradition of hosting camps at the facility.
“The Salvation Army did a great job with that camp for decades and decades. A lot of families supported the camp. It’s in great shape,” said Ronn McMahon, President of the Greater Wichita YMCA.
McMahon says he values having the opportunity to invest in youth.
“These camps, once they’re gone, they’re gone forever, right? And we at the Y believe that kids need opportunities to be around positive mentors and positive activities,” he explained.
The Salvation Army said it was a difficult decision to sell the 89-year-old property. With increasing camping costs, they are using their funds to cover other needs.
“We’ve operated it in various camping functions since the 1930s, and so being able to sell the property to the YMCA and have that legacy of camping continue at a property that it’s already set up for is just a tremendous blessing,” said Major Merrill Powers, area commander of The Salvation Army South Central Kansas.
Powers said The Salvation Army is using the sales money from Camp Hiawatha for social services, including food pantries, housing costs, and crisis funds.
“The proceeds from the sale of the property will help to strengthen our financial picture and make us stronger for the future,” added Powers.
The Greater Wichita YMCA has many camping plans for the 19-building, 42-acre campgrounds.
“It has capacity to do overnight camps, so we do specialty camps, family camps, lots of activities. It can be a year-round retreat and conference center,” said McMahon.
He says Camp Hiawatha is expected to close on July 17 and will reopen in 2024 to host summer camps. There is a nationwide search for a director to run camp activities at the facility for the YMCA.
The campground is one of many projects the YMCA is investing in to help youth.
The social isolation and the behavior issues, there’s just so much kids have gone through over the last few years, and we have tried to just really double-down on youth development throughout all of our programs,” said McMahon.
He says they are also investing nearly $30 million in facilities, staff, and programs. That includes rebuilding the Andover YMCA, building new sports complexes at the Northwest location, and rebuilding the learning center at the South YMCA.