Franklin County Town Struggles After Closure

BRIGHTON - As communities in St. Lawrence County muster a defense to try to save Ogdensburg Correctional Facility from Gov. David A. Paterson's prison closure hit list, one community is picking up the pieces after a prison camp was closed there last year.

Camp Gabriels in the town of Brighton, Franklin County, was one of three minimum security prisons closed last July. Local officials say the closure has united the community.

"It has brought the community together to focus on ensuring that this area is a good place to live and work, and to develop ideas for capitalizing on the town's recreational and environmental assets," said Sue Mayer, chair of the Town's Redevelopment Citizen's Committee.

It's a committee that Brighton Town Supervisor John Quenell and the town board formed to take a pro-active approach to future redevelopment and to address issues such as reuses for Camp Gabriels and the Governor's recent announcement of the closing of the Paul Smith's Visitors Interpretive Center, according to Ms. Mayer.

As the town of Brighton deals with the prison's closure, Ms. Mayer feels that Gov. Paterson is not looking at how these prison closures affects communities, but is making cuts due to the state's fiscal "dire straits."

"Fairness does not seem to play into this. The state is in such dire straits that it seems the governor is just looking at the numbers and making cuts regardless of the impact on the local communities," she said.

In addition to Camp Gabriels closing last year, the town is also facing another blow from the governor- the future closure of the Paul Smith's Visitor's Interpretive Center, "which brings in a lot of tourists who support the area restaurants and stores," she said.

When Gov. Paterson proposed closing Camp Gabriels and two other minimum security prisons last year, the legislation called for the state to conduct a "reuse study" to find new uses for the facilities.

A copy of the recently released report shows the state found no uses for Camp Gabriels, Camp Mt. McGregor or Camp Pharsalia.

"Unfortunately, the plan did not provide much in the way of alternative uses for Camp Gabriels. In fact, the plan states that there was limited progress in determining any feasible alternative uses for the facility," said Ms. Mayer, "We're concerned that the state does not have the funds to properly close down the camp to prevent the facility's 46 buildings from deteriorating."

New York State Sen. Betty O. Little (R-Glens Falls), says the state seems intent on closing prisons in Northern New York and she fears if they succeed this year, they'll put more on the hit list next year.

"This is the area of the state with the highest unemployment and the lowest income," she recently said. "Now all of a sudden this administration is basically a New York city oriented administration that wants to get inmates closer to New York City where real estate is more valuable and prisons are more expensive to run."