Group may resurrect death-state Connecticut park

Back in 2008 Connecticut's state parks managing agency bought up an ailing RV resort in East Haddam in the 'Catskills of Connecticut.' Redubbing the property Sunrise State Park, the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) has been sitting on the new/old park ever since. Now comes a non-profit group that says it can bring back the park's glory days if allowed to open a campground and cultural arts center on the site.

The non-profit Sunrise Foundation, Inc., says it can bring $500,000 to start the project if the state approves their proposal. Their plans include initially reopening 100 sites, then expanding after opening--projected into summer of 2013.

The cultural arts center part of the equation would be a center open to the public, schools, and other non-profit groups, with a focus on allowing full access to people with disabilities. Members of the group's officers already work with or operate non-profit organizations catering to the needs of the disabled.

The Sunrise Foundation looks to fill a tall order. In published statements, the state's DEEP says it wants any developer, "to create a high quality redevelopment which ensures public access, recreation, environmental sustainability, and economic opportunity for the town of East Haddam and the state. For Sunrise State Park to truly succeed as a destination location, the property must be thoughtfully planned, redeveloped, managed and operated. The selected developer will bear all responsibility for financing, permitting, design, demolition, construction, reconstruction, management and operation of the Sunrise Resort property in return for a long term ground lease with the DEEP, who will maintain ownership over the property."

The resort has a history stretching back nearly a century. Henry Engle started out what he called Elm Camp in 1916 when he brought electric lights, telephone, and running water to the property. In the 1980's ownership changed over to the Robert Johnson family who operated it until 2008. A year later the state purchased the property for $3.2 million. The property has lain fallow ever since.

photo: eckonon on flickr.com