Reservations canceled at campground for people with disabilities

Dillon Park contract squabble threatens outdoor season for hundreds

By Mike Lynch

Former International Paper executive and Paul Smith’s College alumni John Dillon died in March 2023. A year later, a park tied to his legacy and named after him is in jeopardy of not opening for the season. 

On Thursday, campers with reservations from Memorial Day weekend through June 13 received cancellation notices from the park’s manager, Paul Smith’s College, because it doesn’t have a contract from the landowner, International Paper, to operate the venue. 

Ten minutes from the town of Long Lake, the 200-acre John Dillon Park has offered fishing, kayaking and backcountry camping and day-trip opportunities for people with disabilities since 2006. It has more than 3 miles of accessible trails, in addition to nine lean-tos and one tent site for people with disabilities. It’s located on Grampus Lake. Campers use the facilities for free. 

 “The college has done everything in its power to avoid canceling reservations,” said college Interim President Dan Kelting. “In fact, the college has been in negotiations with attorneys for the last six months in order to avoid this current situation.”

He emphasized the college’s desire to open the park this season, and that if a deal were reached it could do so in a few days, pending the approval of permits from the state Department of Health. International Paper, considered the largest pulp and paper company in the world, has told the Explorer it still plans to work out a deal. 

The stalled negotiations appear to be over the length of the contract. The college’s original 15-year contract expired in 2020, and it has received a series of 1-year contracts since then.  

Now the college is seeking a five-year deal that “will allow the college to implement changes that will improve the overall park experience,” Kelting said. 

The college’s contract proposal calls for more fundraising for long-term projects, something it is apprehensive to do on a shorter deal. He said the endowment fund Dillon created for the park operations has sufficient funds. 

International Paper spokeswoman Amy Simpson said her company expects to have a deal very soon. 

“The offer we initially received was vastly different than from what was discussed and so we are working to reconcile,” she said. “We have had discussions with PSC about IP’s ongoing expectations, but the park is in good shape.” 

She added that International Paper is not planning on selling land, nor are they negotiating with other parties.  

Jason Thurston, a quadriplegic who is the park’s outreach coordinator, said Dillon’s death last year has left the park without an advocate within International Paper. Dillon spearheaded the effort to open the park, and he continued to be involved throughout his life.

“I think that the fact that John did pass is what changed everything,” Thurston said. “But I also think that International Paper has no idea what it is, what it has been, and what it really could be. The people that are dealing with it right now are lawyers in Memphis, Tennessee, that have no idea what John Dillon Park is other than what they’ve seen, and they’ve only visited once for like a few hours.”

Dillon was born in Schroon Lake in 1938 and earned a forestry degree from Paul Smith’s in 1958. He specifically wanted to create a park in the Adirondacks for people with wheelchairs because he had a childhood friend who lost the use of his legs in an accident, Dillon’s widow, MC Dillon, said.  

“John certainly had that person in mind when he wanted to make it handicap accessible,” MC Dillon said. “So that’s how it came about.”

She hopes the two parties can compromise and come up with a deal. 

“I’m very disappointed that it has come to this, that they can’t come to some sort of agreement,” she said.  

Thurston, 51, is a Bloomingdale resident who was paralyzed after diving into a pool 20 years ago. Chairman of the state’s accessibility advisory board, he said the park has given him hope and experiences he wouldn’t have otherwise.  

Most recently, in March, a serious infection nearly killed him. 

“I just had to bury my head under the covers and ride it out and sleep all the time,” he said. “I couldn’t concentrate on anything but the one thing that kept me going was just knowing how involved I am with the park.” 

The park has also given him a sense of independence. The campsites are set up to allow people in wheelchairs to move between the lean-tos and fire pit or take a hike. He strives to go camping at the park 10 times a year. 

“As a quadriplegic, who at one time couldn’t even feed himself, to go from that to figuring out how to camp by myself, it speaks volumes,” he said. 

There are regulars just like him who come to the park every year with their families and friends, he said. He said the campground reservations were nearly full for Memorial Day weekend but slowed until July and August. 

In 2022, campers spent 1,253 nights at the facility and about half of those were by people with disabilities, he said. The facility is also used by many people just spending the day. 

“It’s priceless,” Thurston said. “They describe it as resetting their battery, the only place that they can really get in the woods.”