Project to protect Oswego’s Camp Hollis from future flooding is now complete

OSWEGO, N.Y. — A construction project to protect Camp Hollis in the town of Oswego from future flooding and high-water events is now complete.

Camp Hollis is a summer camp for children, providing recreational opportunities to more than 2,000 at-risk youth per year, as well as a location for private events.

The completed resiliency project stabilizes nearly 600 feet of Lake Ontario shoreline and prevents further erosion and encroachment of the bluff toward the camp’s facilities, the office of Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Wednesday.

The state awarded the $500,000 project to Oswego County through the Lake Ontario Resiliency and Economic Development Initiative (REDI). Wave and horizontal ice pressure, generated by severe storms, “continuously eroded” the toe of the bluff causing sloughing and intrusion of the bluff in toward Camp Hollis’s playing field and facilities and “creating a hazardous condition” for camp visitors.

The project’s resiliency features include the installation of an onshore riprap revetment system with a regraded slope. In addition, crews added vegetation between the revetment and the slope to minimize potential erosion loss and protect the toe of the bluff. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) oversaw the county’s implementation of the project.

“It’s great to see this important project completed at Camp Hollis. The shoreline stabilization will secure its longevity, guaranteeing this facility will provide an outlet for kids of all ages to continue to partake in summer camp experiences,” New York State Assembly Minority Leader Will Barclay (R–Pulaski) said in the state’s announcement. “The investment from the state has ensured the Lake Ontario shoreline remains sound, and it will prevent further erosion. I look forward to seeing the positive impact this has on Camp Hollis and the community.”

The project “further supports” Hochul’s “Get Offline, Get Outside” initiative, which was launched earlier this month, her office said. It seeks to promote physical and mental health by helping New York’s kids and families to put down their phones and computers, take a break from social media, and enjoy recreation and outdoor social gatherings.