European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 06, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Tuesday septembers 1994 Chi Emsee from Page 1 to close the resort the site of arc s Only sailing pro Grams in order to save Berchtesgaden. You be got a lot of irate americans Here at Chiem see. It s a disgrace to shut this place Down said Rex Brown 47, who works for the army in Kaiserslautern As he prepared for a last Day s sail on the Lake. Isteel that americans Are being cheated by this facility being handed Back to the germans he said. Now arc has two essentially Winter resorts Gar. Misch and Berchtesgaden plus one summer and Winter resort Chi Emsee because you can ski just As Well from Here. -. -. With Chi Emsee closing arc will be left with no summer resort said Brown who has been sailing and windsurfing at Chi Emsee for 10  Blanco 34, and Bob Ackley 38, both army employees in Kaiserslautern shared Brown s frustration. We really Don t under stand the reason for giving up the hotel Complex and the Lake facilities said Blanco of Miami As he rigged a 24-foot Sloop for a Day s sail with ack Ley and friends. We Are going out Gorman today with five people and the boat is costing us $40. The same size boat costs280 Marks about $185 from a German rental outfit across the Lake. I Don t know where we Are going to sail from now on said Ackley of Chicago. Arc Chi Emsee has a Fleet of a couple of Hundred Craft everything from paddle boats canoes and wind surfers up to several Large sailboats including the Ven Erable Sloop Candy. The boats Date Back to the Days when Chi Emsee was first a resort for nazi bigwigs and later a wartime Hospital during Adolf Hitler s regime. Besides its l56-room Lake hotel and 73-Rpom Park hotel Chi Emsee also has a 100-site Campground. Dave Post a retired army chief warrant officer living in Augsburg was one of the campers on the final week end and he was t a Happy one. Post and his family have been camping every summer for 16 years at  m very upset about the decision to close this place. My kids grew up Here. Why did t they consult the customers about which resort Chi Emsee or Berchtesgaden to close Post asked. Arc s Gorman said that such a polling of service members in Europe was conducted in the autumn of 1990, and Chi Emsee came in a Distant third to front runner Garmisch and runner up  if it had been solely up to arc the organization would have kept Garmisch along with Chi Emsee. The decision to keep Chi Emsee would have been made because it is in excellent condition with the stars and stripes Page 3 Frank Pernau left and Dave Post longtime campers at Chi Emsee say they re disappointed that the . Military is returning the Lakeside resort to the German government. Den. Obviously it is a political decision because the general Walker hotel is in the Center of the former third Reich Gorman said. The area around the Walker hotel was used As a War time Retreat for Hitler and his associates. The German government prefers that Access to various Sites in the area be controlled by american forces for fear they could become a draw for Neo nazis. The final agreement involving Chi Emsee s Transfer and the amount needed to renovate the facilities at Berchtesgaden still has not been completed Gorman said. If it the agreement is hot signed by september 30, we will Mothball it Chi Emsee Gorman said. We Are trying to work put an agreement that will give americans continued Access to water sports facilities atch Emsee Gorman stated. He does t expect renovation work to begin at Berchtesgaden for some months. Many Laid off arc Chi Emsee employees Are hoping to find jobs at whatever facility most Likely a resort operation eventually opens at the Lakeside site. About 30 of Chi Emsee s 130 employees have been placed elsewhere with arc said Cheryl Glarum Chi Emsee s manager. Others Many of them germans who worked for Many years in recreational activities Are finding jobs hard to come by in their recession hit country. Some Are planning on setting up sailing or ski schools. Is millions of dollars having been spent to renovate it in recent years while Berchtesgaden needs millions to renovate its aging facilities Gorman said. Gorman said arc needs Only two resort facilities to accommodate those troops remaining in Europe Fol lowing the draw Down. He admits that the decision to Swap Chi Emsee for funds to renovate Berchtesgaden has been driven by political considerations. We Are closing Chi Emsee at the request of the Ger Man government. They want us to stay in Berch Tesla is Michael Abrams. Kari Baars right checks out guests at the Chi Emsee Lake hotel As the facility prepared to close Down monday. Memories fro Page 1 in i. _. Our 50th anniversary but they closed out on us said Tom Mcgrath 77, As he took one last look around the Entrance Hall where As newlyweds the couple had arrived in 1946. Tom then a Young army air corps officer and Winifred an employee of the War crimes commis Sion had driven to Chi Emsee after their wedding a Landsberg. We made the trip by jeep. The autobahn was there but there was t a bit of traffic on it recalled Tom Mcgrath who retired from the air Force in 1968 As a lieutenant colonel. We paid 50 cents a night to stay Here. I remember that breakfast Cost us 10 cents lunch was 25 cents and As i recall dinner was 50 cents he said. The Mcgrath who eventually had seven Chil Dren initially were denied a double room when they checked in nearly five decades ago. That s because Winifred s id card was still in her Maiden name the couple recalled. I read about the closing of Chi Emsee in a publication for retirees. It Cost me about $50 in phone Calls to make the arrangements to stay Here but i m glad we came Back. It s been great Tom Mcgrath said. I m very sad to see it close. The guide who took us to Salzburg Austria was very emotional said Winifred Mcgrath adding it was her last sightseeing trip after guiding americans for 29 years