The new owner of the former Camp Wakonda site on McCarroll Lake says plans are to continue many of the activities it has been known for over the years, while also being used as a family camp.
Ryan Rocchetta, who purchased the property jointly with his brother, sister, mother and step-father Tom Fremlin, said the sale closed yesterday.
“We all went a quarter on the deposit and the business (Northshore Sports and Auto) is going to carry the loan and the insurances,” said Rocchetta.
Part of the plans are for Northshore, which is located nearby in Echo Bay, to provide rentals and demonstrations of the Sea-Doo personal watercraft they sell on the McCarroll Lake site.
Rocchetta said he wanted to clear up any misconceptions there may be about the future use of the site.
“They think we are going to burn the place down or something. I just wanted to clear the air,” said Rocchetta.
The family plans to continue offering renting the camp for events like weddings and family reunions, and will honour the bookings made by the previous owners, Kiwanis of Lakeshore.
“We wanted to honour the roots of it. People have been coming out there for years and renting it for weekends and made that commitment to come up every year to see family. We don’t want to take that away,” said Rocchetta.
In addition, the purchasers are leaving the door open to the possibility of allowing not-for-profits, like the Kiwanis of Lakeshore, to run children’s camps during some weeks or weekends in the summer.
“We put a lot of money back in the community. We like to help the kids out and do a lot of sponsorships — hockey programs and soccer. I just thought it would be nice to get the kids out in the summer to enjoy themselves,” said Rocchetta.
The Kiwanis of Lakeshore, which has owned and operated the 30-plus acre site for more than 40 years, attached a $899,000 asking price for the property.
Rocchetta said the final selling price was lower than the asking, but didn’t give specifics.
“We did get a break on it, but it was fair to us and I think it was fair to Kiwanis of Lakeshore,” said Rocchetta.
Plans for potential upgrades to the cabins and possible opening of the site over the winter will be made over the next few months.
“We wanted to get a few more activities and then maybe think about opening it up for the winter for sleds,” said Rocchetta.
He said immediate plans are to upgrade existing facilities, not further development of the site.
There are no immediate plans, Rocchetta said, to sever any of the property or sell any off for profit.
First reported by SooToday on Sep. 20, the sale has now been finalized and the new owners have received the keys to the property.
“People keep asking us what we are going to call it. We haven’t made any decisions,” said Rocchetta.