Dutrisac Cottages in Sturgeon Falls has been making memories for families for 65 years. Michael Stevens has owned the property for over a decade after Edgar Dutrisac willed it to him. Stevens has worked there for 49 years, starting when he was just a young lad, barely 12 years old.
On Monday he announced this would be his last year. Dutrisac Cottages is closing. Stevens says the decision wasn't made lightly. It came down to a matter of his personal health and the cost of meeting new Ministry of the Environment regulations pertaining to sewage lagoons.
"I have been fighting cancer for 18 years, and it's coming back again. In June I had a heart attack while I was in Mexico. It certainly was a wake-up call. I just realized it was getting to be too much for me. Health comes first. I don't want to die in the park trying to keep it open. We had been trying to sell it for a number of years, but with the new Ministry rules and regulations, well that just helped me make up my mind."
Stevens pulled the property off the market this week.
"I took it off the market because we're no longer allowed to use the lagoons and without a new system I can't sell it".
He has invested money to improve the lagoons in the past, but time is no longer on his side.
"We've done this before because we're as big as a little town. To get a major system, we're looking at a minimum of $500,000 or as much as 1.8 or even 2 million dollars. This might have been okay if I was 15 years younger and still healthy, and able to make my money back. I'm 62 now and I'm in bad health. I'll never make that money back. It is just not feasible."
Stevens has made arrangements with the MOE to stay open until the fall, at which time it will turn off its services, permanently.
The campground owner says there is no deadline for people to remove their trailers this year.
"We'll work with them as much as we can. Not many people have room at their house to store a trailer, so they can remain here until they make arrangements. We will be as helpful as we can. They can store their trailers over the winter and in the spring they can make arrangements to move them."
The closure of the camp site is expected to have an impact on the local economy.
"I could have as many as a thousand people a day. That will be a huge impact on chip stands, coffee shops and grocery stores and places to shop. I hope that my own people will find lodging in Sturgeon Falls and area, but there's just not that much room for these many trailers. We're one of the largest sites in Northern Ontario."
Stevens says all together, he has over 300 camp sites on his property.
The campground makes up 60 acres of a 410-acre parcel of farmland.
Some campers have been coming to the park for over 30 years. Stevens has watched their children grow, as they have watched his own son turn into a young adult. They have become family, inviting Stevens to family weddings, even vacationing with one another.
One of his fondest memories was the annual week long Christmas in July celebrations, watching children enjoying the various activities and getting little gifts during their visit with Santa Claus.
For the past six or seven years, Sandee Gifford-Restoule and her husband have lived at the campground from spring until fall. Their children and grandchildren plan their holidays around time spent at the trailer.
"The news is still so fresh, and it's so painful. We're still in disbelief. We understand everything that is going on, but its still heartbreaking," said Gifford-Restoule. "The whole park took us in with open arms like we had been there forever. They're like family. We planned our whole summer around the park. There were pancake breakfasts, spaghetti suppers, time spent sitting around camp fires with friends, and Saturday afternoons at the beach. It was a little community. We'll be there until the bitter end. Nothing can replace the years spent at Dutrisac Camp. We didn't know we were making memories, we just thought we were having fun."
Stevens has hired a company to look into the possibility of severing the property and selling the lots.
"I'm not upset or anything. I've been promising my son for years that we'll spend more time together and do things. I only have one son, he's 18 years old and going off to college. I want to be able to spend a few years with him while he's still around before he moves on with his career. I want to see him graduate and get married," explained Stevens. "It's the right decision. It's the only decision."
Stevens says he is thankful for having met such wonderful people along the way.
"I've had the best customers and the best staff possible. I've made life long friends out of people who started out as strangers. I still have my farm. I'd like to do a little more traveling with my son. I have so much else to do with my life."