Trustees of Camp Marietta in northern Greenville County have settled on a potential buyer for the property, and the chairwoman says she is confident the facility will continue to operate as a Christian camp after it is sold.
The property is owned and operated by two Upstate Baptist associations — Greenville and Three Rivers — and is overseen by a board of trustees whose membership represents both associations. Both associations’ messengers voted last October to put the camp up for sale in the face of escalating operational costs and state regulatory requirements.
Katrina Campbell, trustee chairwoman and a member of His Vineyard church in Greer, said the board received bids from nine parties wishing to purchase the 56-year-old campground. She said at least five bids were viable. “We picked the top two that we felt were closest to what we were looking for as far as ministry, a business plan and their financial strength,” she said.
The trustees initially settled on a buyer Jan. 20, Campbell said, then “took four days to pray,” and then voted again, unanimously, to confirm their choice.
Campbell did not reveal the name of the winning bidder, who first must be approved by the executive committees of both associations, followed by a vote of both associations at a called meeting that could be held as early as this spring. The name of the buyer could be released upon approval by both associations’ executive committees, she said.
When asked if she believes Camp Marietta will be able to continue operations as a Christian camp after it is sold, Campbell said, “Yes, we do.”
In the period since the associations voted last October to sell the Camp Marietta property, some have expressed disappointment with the decision. A group called “Save Marietta Coalition” met with the trustees recently to air grievances.
“Sometimes in church life things can get messy,” said Campbell. “We’ve gone the extra mile in meeting with those who opposed this whole process, and we’ve done everything we can to explain or show proof of why decisions were made and what we’ve done all along the way. We don’t have anything to hide.”
In December, Campbell told the Courier that the decision to sell Camp Marietta “has not been easy” and that trustees “bathed this in prayer.”
In addition to rising operating costs and a decline in financial support, the camp suffered a setback in the spring of 2013 when contaminated water infiltrated the camp’s well. Three attempts to drill a new well failed. Since then the camp has operated under the guidance of the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control.
Operations were suspended in October 2015. “The decision to cease operations was not a knee-jerk reaction,” said Campbell, “but a decision that was based upon years of a slow and gradual decline of support.”
Campbell noted that the regulatory requirements for running a camp today are of a “different magnitude” than those in place in 1959 when Camp Marietta was founded. “With our organizational structure, it is extremely hard to meet the guidelines and regulations that are required,” she said.
She said Camp Marietta has welcomed more than 10,000 campers over five decades and has seen “countless numbers of people come to know Christ and surrender to ministry callings.”
The camp reached peak usage in the 1990s and, in the early 2000s, began to see a decline in support and participation from the ownership churches, Campbell said.