Allan Kendall sees great promise in the old Family Adventure Park on the outskirts of Corner Brook.
Kendall and his wife, Lynn, bought the property, located off the Lewin Parkway on Lundrigan Drive, seven years ago and operated the recreational vehicle park portion of it in the first year.
That was before smartphones and apps made the work of administering such a venture easy.
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Council approves new chalet development in industrial park area
Now they plan to reopen the RV park area and build six, independent two-bedroom chalets for year-round rentals on the other side of property.
The short-term rentals would be geared toward the tourism market.
Kendall said the chalets will be located behind the pool area and to the right of the property.
The Corner Brook resident said the area is perfect for such a development.
“It’s right on the snowmobile and ATV trails. So, we’re backing right there on the Lewis Hills.
“And there’s not a lot of accommodations in the Corner Brook area where you can park a pickup and an ATV or snowmobile trailer.”
With 30 acres to play with, Kendall said, they have that space.
“We’re not boxed in.”
He said there is lots of open space, and he envisions adding things like a walking trail to make use of the wetland that is there.
With the new hospital development nearby, he says the development will offer something to people wanting accommodations close by.
He’s also had some interest from the nearby cross-country ski club in terms of possible accommodations for competitions.
Kendall said they also plan to reopen the lodge and put in a convenience store and restaurant.
“Just to round out the development.”
They plan to look for an independent operator to take on the restaurant part of the venture.
Right now, there’s no immediate plan to reopen the pool. He said they’d have to look at whether or not the cost of running the pool would outweigh any profit they would earn from it.
The development application was approved by the city in October, but in order to proceed a portion of the property’s land use designation and zoning needs to be rezoned from rural to general industrial.
Kendall said the rural property zoning comes down diagonally through the property and the change would consolidate it all under a single land use designation.
That way both the RV park and the chalets would fit in the new zone.
He said the zoning line is a holdover from years ago that never caused the previous operator any issues.
“And that became the tipping point for us, is we needed more space for the chalets to fit.”
The zoning change was discussed during Monday evening’s public council meeting, and council approved carrying out a public consultation process on the change. That’s a required step before voting on the change.
Engineering plans for the project have been completed and submitted to the city based upon the rezoning going through, so Kendall hopes there are no hiccups and the rezoning will be completed by the spring. Then, once the snow goes and the land dries out, construction can start.
There is some maintenance to be done in the RV park portion of the property, but he said that can be open for the summer and he is looking at having the chalets rentable by the fall.
