With summer looming, Camp Lee in need of $140K in repairs

May 11—Camp Lee, the popular Anniston First United Methodist Church ministry in the wooded hills above Choccolocco Road, has hosted church events and summer gatherings for five decades. But two unsettling developments have stirred concerns just as camping season nears.

In April, Kevin McDade abruptly resigned as Camp Lee's director, a position he had held for 21 years while shepherding the facility through several periods of growth. McDade told the church he has accepted a position elsewhere as a plant manager and human resources administrator.

This month, church administrators announced that more than $140,000 was needed to repair a sizable list of deteriorated buildings at Camp Lee. The damage, according to pastor Tammy Jackson, is mainly the result of years of deferred maintenance and budgetary restrictions — not negligence of Camp Lee staff.

"There are things you have noticed, things you didn't have money to fix, things you thought were just cosmetic or superficial," said Jackson, who replaced the Rev. Dale Clem at Anniston First Methodist in the fall of 2020.

In its May newsletter, the church published an itemized list of 13 buildings or amenities at Camp Lee that needed repairs, including ceiling and window restorations and remediation of mold and other water-related damages.

The most expensive repair is a $35,399 estimate for rehabilitating the camp's lower barn — repairing the upstairs meeting area, overhauling the downstairs bathroom and plugging a water leak. Also among the listed estimates is $24,795 for replacing windows "that are increasing mold and moisture damage;" $14,105 for replacing rot damage to the wooden exterior of The Ark; $12,000 to repair the foundation of the Lee House; and a combined $7,500 to repair the camp's canopy zip line and climbing wall.

Color photographs in the church newsletter depict much of the damage.

After mailing the newsletter, church administrators wrote a lengthy Facebook post to congregants: "Undoubtedly, you were as shocked and dismayed as we were at the deteriorated state of our beloved camp ... More pictures are available to members, and tours can be arranged upon request if there is any lingering doubt. The conditions show YEARS of deferred maintenance."

In a text message to The Star, McDade wrote that "Camp Lee is a 382-acre Christian retreat center with a dedicated board of directors who have planned each of the past 20-plus years to make camp better each year. I know this by reading the official board minutes and documents, and I have faith that this tradition will continue well into the future. It is time to get camp ready for the campers this summer and for the future. Camp Lee is Holy ground, and God is ready and waiting to touch the lives of young people this summer."

McDade did not address his resignation or the needed repairs.

In varying ways, Jackson and other church administrators said they were surprised when McDade resigned this spring. The pastor said she and others "sat in stunned silence for a few minutes" when he announced his departure. McDade was not fired, and no one at Anniston First Methodist was seeking to force him to resign, Jackson said.

When asked if there had been tension between Camp Lee's director and the church, Jackson said that "we had things we were trying to work on and resolve, like the needed repairs," and a desire to improve communication between the camp and church offices.

"We were working on those things, but the feeling from us was that we were making good progress on those things," Jackson said. "We never anticipated that Kevin wouldn't want to be a part of that process and resign." The church, she said, has "zero animosity" with the camp's former director, and it has scheduled a celebration picnic for McDade and his family following the May 23 worship service.

Jackson said the deterioration resulted from a combination of unrelated factors, including a lack of full awareness by church staff and members, and fiscal limitations both before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Camp Lee — originally Camp Zinn, a Boy Scout camp — contains multiple offices, lodges, meeting spaces, sleeping quarters and recreational facilities. When the church moved its worship services outdoors to Camp Lee last year, it "brought those fresh eyes" to the facility's condition, although the daunting size of the camp heightened the lack of awareness. So, too, did the fact that a number of buildings weren't used regularly during the pandemic, which exacerbated mold growth.

"The truth is, for many of us, we weren't in all the buildings," the pastor said. "I hadn't been in all the buildings; I still haven't been in every single one of them."

Decisions to defer repairs because of budgetary constraints were handled by church administrators and not McDade alone, Jackson said, adding that it would be unfair to say the director neglected the camp.

"Kevin has done a lot of good things. He has lived and worked there, and there a lot of times people come back and say what a difference the camp has made in their lives," Jackson said. "My understanding is that Kevin came 21 years ago this year, and the camp was in even worse shape than it is now, especially in worse shape financially, and Kevin made it better."

McDade's last day at Camp Lee is June 1, although Anniston First Methodist is allowing him to continue living there for an additional 10 weeks, according to a portion of a separation letter Jackson shared with The Star. The church declined McDade's offer to work on weekends only through mid-August.

Phillip Tutor — ptutor@annistonstar.com — is a Star columnist. Follow him at Twitter.com/PTutor_Star.