KALAMAZOO COUNTY, MI (WKZO AM/FM) — Tuesday, the Kalamazoo County Board of Commissioners finalized the purchase of Camp Rota-Kiwan, a former Boy Scout Retreat, for the purposes of converting it into a county park.
The path to doing so has been in motion since last year, at which time Commissioners began discussing the prospect of acquiring the property.
At the end of 2019, the Boy Scouts of America Michigan Crossroads Council decided to close the camp in an effort to reduce operating expenses. The cost of the purchase would be about $2 million.
At that time, Kalamazoo County Parks Director David Rachowicz said this had been a long awaited plan.
“As many of you know, we’ve had in our master plan the idea or need of having a county park on the western half of Kalamazoo County for the past 10 years now,” Rachowicz said. “Through that process, we’ve always said it has to be the right piece of property and something that was unique and worth preserving. This property fits that element in many ways.”
Rota-Kiwan features over 200 acres with connections to Bass Lake and the Al Sabo Land Preserve and already has parking lots, bathrooms, and the required facilities for a park.
It was previously estimated that it would take anywhere between 3 and 12 months to complete the acquisition. In the end, Commissioners unanimously approved moving forward with the purchase.
During a virtual meeting on Tuesday, Commissioners voted to execute the finalized purchase agreement. County Documents further state the intention behind the measure, along with a brief timeline behind the process:
“At the April 21, 2020 Kalamazoo County Board of Commissioners meeting, the potential purchase and acquisition plan of the former 212 acre Camp Rota-Kiwan from the Boy Scouts of America Michigan Crossroads Council was presented.
At the May 5, 2020 Kalamazoo County Board of Commissioners meeting, the Board authorized County Administration to enter into and execute a contract to purchase Camp Rota-Kiwan from the Boy Scouts of America Michigan Crossroads Council.
On December 9, 2020 Kalamazoo County entered into a purchase agreement to purchase the property for $2,000,000 for use as a future County Park. At this time, all due diligence is complete and Kalamazoo County is prepared to execute the agreement. 75% of the private funding is in-hand and the remaining will be secure by year end. This request will allow the purchase to be completed with temporary use of fund balance that will be reimbursed through private fundraising by year-end.”
During end-meeting comments and reports, County Administrator Tracie Moored made a statement on the purchase.
“We have been working on that purchase for over a year, there have been so many people involved in assisting our county with that,” Moored said. “Specifically, the Park Advisory Committee have put a lot of time and effort into this. We even have had the Board Chair scrambling all over to sign documents. Most importantly, David Rachowicz, who has been working on this for quite a long time. It has all now come together, and this is an incredible feat for our County. We pulled that off with little to no General Fund dollars for the taxpayer, we actually went to foundations to raise the money, had private citizens come forward, and it was quite a huge undertaking. Tomorrow will be the closing, purchasing Camp Rota-Kiwan from the Boy Scouts.”
She praised the efforts that have been gone into this agreement.
“It’s a great accomplishment, and it will be a wonderful park on that side of town,” Moored said. “I am sure Director Rachowicz will bring many exciting opportunities forward for the board to consider.”
Board Chair Tracy Hall also spoke on the purchase.
“This has been a year in the making, and I truly believe our parks are our crown jewels,” Hall said. “We have a director who is a great caretaker of those parks, it’s something all of us can enjoy no matter where we live, at least that’s the hope. So that’s exciting that we were able to pass that tonight.”
As previously stated, the purchase is expected to be closed on Wednesday.
The property is located at 6278 Texas Dr., Kalamazoo, MI, 49009.
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