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SHINGLETON -- For months now, Shingleton had been buzzing with the rumor that Camp Cusino, a minimum-security camp, was on the chopping block.

Friday's announcement that the prison was officially closing wasn't easy to swallow.

"Your first thought is the officers that work there," said Alger County Sheriff David Cromell.  "Hopefully, they can be absorbed locally at the other institutions."

It costs the state $6.7 million a year to run the facility.  The minimum-security camp was established in 1951 and employs 60 people.

Tara Robinson, who works down the road from Camp Cusino, understands the devastation of the decision first-hand.  She talked to a prison employee Friday morning.

"I was shocked, and he was also shocked," commented Robinson.  "He said he wasn't sure if he was going to be able to stay around here or if he'd have to look at other places for employment.

Since the prison camp first opened, Cromell said the community embraced it.

"In the aspect of being a minimum-security camp, they're very beneficial to the local entities and non-profit organizations that use the inmates for labor," stated Cromell.

But now the concern for the area is the loss of one of its largest employers.

"I just think the state has so many different areas that they can make cuts beside our prison," said Shingleton resident, Bryan Hill.

The closing of Camp Cusino will not affect Alger County Jail, however, officials and the community is worried about the ripple effect from losing the facility.