West Hills Day Camp to close, owner says

West Hills Day Camp in Huntington, a summer camp that's welcomed generations of Long Island campers since it opened its doors in 1954, is closing, owner Kevin Gersh announced in a Thursday night Facebook post. 

The decision to close was made because of low enrollment, he wrote. 

Gersh, who called the camp's closure "one of the hardest decisions I have faced in my professional life," said any deposits or payments for this summer would be fully refunded immediately.

"Sadly, the world of day camps has changed quite significantly over the last decade as parents are making different choices for their children," Gersh said in the post on West Hills' Facebook page. 

"As a result, summer day camp enrollment has been on the decline, and West Hills Day Camp is, unfortunately, no exception...enrollment numbers for West Hills Day Camp have gotten to the place where it will not be viable for us to open this summer." 

Competition from instructional day camps  has been increasing, limiting revenue growth at traditional camps like West Hills, according to a report on the $4 billion camp industry by California-based market research firm IBISWorld.  

On social media, many parents weighed in on news of the closure. Some expressed sadness and shock, and others mentioned the high cost of camp as a possible reason for the business' demise. 

For summer 2020, West Hills' tuition for a school-aged child ranged from $5,900 to $7,100 for eight weeks.

The camp property is owned by the Gersh family, which has no plans to sell it, a spokeswoman for Kevin Gersh said Friday. She said Gersh was not available for interviews.

Two schools will continue to operate on the West Hills campus -- Gersh Academy, for students with autism, and West Hills Academy, for students with neurobiological disorders, the spokeswoman said. "Beyond that, it is still early and there are no definitive plans," she said.

In his Facebook post, Gersh said he hopes one day "to re-open a camp on these grounds that will offer both typical learners and those with neurobiological differences the kind of summer experience they deserve, and that we can all be proud of."