Iroquois site for several years served as narcotics treatment facility before becoming Job Corps in 1978

By Catherine Cooper, Orleans County Historian

“Illuminating Orleans” – Volume 5, No. 28

State Sen. Earl Brydges, center, visits the Iroquois Narcotics Rehabilitation Center in July 1970. He is shown with, from left: Herbert Riley, work coordinator; Valory Koch, leader of the Narcotics Rehabilitation Center; John Kennedy, former Medina mayor and member of community liaison committee; and John Cobb, Medina’s mayor at the time. Koch is presenting the state senator with an ashtray made in the pottery shop.

SHELBY – A recent inquiry about the existence of a drug rehabilitation program at the Job Corps facility in Shelby prompted us to research its history.

In light of the recent announcement to close the Job Corps program, it is interesting to note that from its very inception, the fate of the facility has been determined by outside political swings and changes, rather than by its performance.

Job Corps, a federally funded residential and job training opportunity for disadvantaged youth, was established under the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson’s “War on Poverty.

Locally, the establishment of a Job Corps camp on the Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge in Shelby was announced in early May 1965. The camp would be located on Tibbits Road, about a quarter of a mile east of Sour Springs Road. Up to one hundred young men were expected to go into training at the camp. An article in the Medina Daily Journal, July 9, 1965, explained:

“The Job Corps provides jobs for boys aged 16-21 who are mostly school dropouts from poverty-stricken areas and trains them so that they can obtain employment when they leave.”

At first glance, the location of this Job Corps site on the edge of a remote 10,000-acre wildlife Refuge, may seem unusual, but is better understood when one realizes that the initial objective of the program was to provide labor for the development of the Refuge. The boys were to be trained in the skills necessary to install nature trails to attract visitors. They would also work on creating dams to encourage backflow, thus encouraging waterfowl to come to the area to breed.

Newly appointed director, Raymond Calagne, based the office for the newly named Iroquois Job Corps Conservation Center in a former farmhouse at the corner of Oak Orchard Ridge Road and Sour Springs Road in Shelby.

Benderson Construction Co. of Buffalo constructed the shop, warehouse, combination dining room/education/recreation building, and two dormitories, each providing accommodation for 56 boys. Three trailer-living units provided accommodation for employees and their families on site.

The facility opened in 1966 with the Shelby location was the only Job Corps installation in New York State.

On Jan. 29, 1968, it was slated for immediate closure, along with 16 others nationwide, as part of a budget cutting measure. The remaining Job Corps sites were closed in 1969. The underlying philosophy had changed: the new theory was that disadvantaged, unskilled urban youth could be more effectively trained in urban sites, rather than in remote conservation sites.

Naturally, the announcement was greeted locally with astonishment and dismay. The facility cost $800,000 to build, had 149 students and a budget of almost $500,000.

On August 6, 1968, a plan to convert the former Jobs Corps Center into a New York State sponsored facility for drug addicts was announced. The Iroquois Narcotics Rehabilitation Center would be an experimental site, an “open” treatment facility. Director A. Luis Cid elaborated on the nature of this “open” program, to reassure area residents who might be concerned at the lack of formal security features such as fences and guards at the site.

“These will be selected men, probably between the ages of 18 and 25, who have already spent several months at a secure center and have been de-toxicated.”

He explained that the addict is almost always a sensitive person, easily hurt, who then retreats from life’s problems through the solace of drugs.

“One of our first jobs is to resocialize the addict, to try and give him a new social personality”

He acknowledged that addiction was a complex problem, with many possible causes and was thus far impossible to cure. Cid believed that the trusting atmosphere at the site, the services provided, along with useful work therapy on the grounds of the Refuge, would prove beneficial. He acknowledged the possibility that the residents might “walk off”, but said that if they did so, they would be returned to a stricter facility.

The Center opened in August 1968, with 11 residents and 26 staff members. On its second anniversary, it had 140 residents and 125 staff. Over the course of the next several years, program residents participated in community events such as the annual Christmas toy drive in Medina.

Citing budget concerns, the closure of the facility was announced on Jan.13, 1976. Again, the announcement was greeted locally with astonishment and dismay.  Medina Mayor John Cobb issued a strong resolution to Governor Carey to continue the operation, citing its success, the disruption for clients and their families, and the impact to the local economy of the impending loss of the $1.5 million payroll for the 133 employees.

But to no avail. By May, equipment worth over $3 million had been removed from the site and distributed to other state facilities.

In October 1978, it was announced that the Iroquois Job Corps program would re-open at its original location on Tibbits Road. The underlying philosophy had changed: the emphasis would be on teaching trades; the students would do minimal work for the Refuge.