The Texas summer camp where 27 campers and staff died during flooding this year will partially reopen next summer.
Camp Mystic’s owners sent emails to parents saying it will reopen the Cypress Lake site. KHOU said the location was “just around a hill” from the camp that was washed out earlier this year, the Guadalupe camp.
The Cypress Lake area of the camp was not damaged in the July 4 flooding, The Associated Press reported.
The river that runs alongside the camp rose from 14 feet to 29 and a half feet in an hour. Despite the rising waters and the camp’s lead tracking the storm, the camp did not evacuate, the AP reported.
The cabins at the camp that were destroyed were in known flood zones and were near the Guadalupe River, according to FEMA flood maps, ABC News reported. Many areas of the camp, which was built in 1926, were constructed in areas before flood zones were established and were likely grandfathered, officials said.
One email was sent to the families of the campers who died in the flooding. A second was sent to the families of past camp attendees, The New York Times reported.
“We are not only rebuilding cabins and trails, but also a place where laughter, friendship and spiritual growth will continue to flourish,” the farther-reaching message said. “We look forward to welcoming you back inside the green gates.”
The letter also said that camp owners “are working to implement new safety protocols and other changes that comply with the requirements of the recently passed camp safety legislation, the Heaven’s 27 Camp Safety Act,” ABC News reported.
The act, among other rules, requires camps to build cabins and move existing cabins out of flood zones, the Times reported. The Camping Association for Mutual Progress, a trade group of which Camp Mystic is a member, opposed the legislation, saying that moving and rebuilding cabins would be cost-prohibitive.
The letters said there will be a memorial built on the grounds of the camp to honor those who were killed.
Of the 27 campers and staff killed, one child’s body has yet to be recovered. Cile Steward, 8, is still missing more than two months later, the Times reported.
But not all families support the plans, saying that they have had little communication from the camp’s owners since their children died.
“The families of deceased Camp Mystic campers and counselors were not consulted about and did not approve this memorial,” Blake Bonner, the father of 9-year-old Lila Bonner, who died, said in a statement.
Cile Steward’s mother, Cici Steward, said, “The truth is, Camp Mystic failed our daughters.”
“Recovery teams are still out there, scouring the river, risking and sacrificing so much to find her so we can finally lay her to rest. For their efforts, we are eternally grateful,” Cici Steward wrote, according to the Times. “Camp Mystic, however, has only added to our grief.”
“For my family, these months have felt like an eternity. For the camp, it seems like nothing more than a brief pause before business as usual,” her statement continued. “Camp Mystic is pressing ahead with reopening, even if it means inviting girls to swim in the same river that may potentially still hold my daughter’s body.”
The Eastland family said that they have “received no negative comments from any of the bereaved families regarding plans to build a memorial.”
Camp Mystic will mark its 100th anniversary next year.