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SARANAC LAKE — A youth summer camp on the shore of Lower Saranac Lake will be closed this summer, due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Camp Guggenheim, owned and run by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Ogdensburg, was scheduled to run for six week-long sessions from June 28 to Aug. 7, with the first five weeks for kids age 12 to 15 and the last week for teenagers age 16 to 18.

Darcy Fargo, communications director for the diocese, said Wednesday the decision not to have camp this summer was difficult but necessary.

“With the situation, the inability for our staff to gather kind of inhibited the ability to plan for camp,” she said. “It’s virtually impossible, in a dorm setting, to keep six feet of separation between people. … Obviously safety has to be the first consideration.”

On a personal note, she added, “I can tell you I have a heartbroken soon-to-be 13-year-old. This was going to be his second year at camp.”

Fargo said plans are still up in the air for Family Camp, which takes place after the youth sessions at Guggenheim. The diocesan Family Life office typically schedules Family Camp sessions in August and October.