An iconic Cayuga County camp and retreat center will close its doors, according to its owners.
In a letter sent to United Methodists of Upper New York, Bishop Héctor A. Burgos-Núñez announced the church’s Conference Leadership Team (CLT) has decided to permanently close Casowasco Camp & Retreat Center in Moravia.
According to the letter, discussions on the future of Casowasco began in June 2024. In January 2025, it was decided that “Casowasco needed a season of Sabbath to listen, evaluate, and seek God’s direction with clarity.”
In November, Interim Site Director Rev. Colin Kerr Carpenter presented a plan to reopen the site, the letter stated. However, on March 3, 2026, the CLT made the decision to permanently close the camp.
The letter went on to say that the Conference Board of Trustees will steward the property while the decision on what to do with it is made, with any further action requiring approval at the church’s Annual Conference.
Casowasco was built by the Case family along Owasco Lake. Following the death of inventor and owner Theodore Case in 1944, his widow sold the property to the Methodist Church.
