Graceville Officials Preparing For Possible Closure Of Work Camp

Graceville City Officials and residents alike are bracing for the possible impact of a local facility moving away. They said the potential closure of the Graceville Work Camp would be damaging to the small town. 

City Manager Eugene Adams said the consideration of the closing came out of nowhere from the Department of Corrections, long after the City budget was finished.

“No one knew this was coming,” Adams said. 

“And so water and sewer alone would be a fifty thousand dollar negative impact to our budget.”

A spokesperson for The Department of Corrections said no closure decision has been made.  They also said if the decision was made to move the camp 23 miles to Malone, no jobs or city services would be lost.  Adams said it would still hurt if it happened, because the workers would either move away from Graceville or commute to Malone.

“Now they’ve got to bear the burden of 46 miles of travel daily at three dollar a gallon gas,” Adams said.

“It will ripple down.  It will affect every restaurant, it will affect our gas stations, it will affect the small part the economy of Graceville plays in the grand scheme of things.”

Convenience store manager Hossein Andre said his store would notice the impact of a work camp closure.  But he said it wouldn’t be as bad as many think.

“So long as they still have a job, I think that’s a good thing.”

The Department of Corrections said an announcement will be made by the end of this week.