A pair of paddling clubs will maintain their homebase at Kelvin Grove Park in Bracebridge for at least the next decade.
During the latest Bracebridge general committee meeting, councillors agreed to enter a lease agreement for use of the building and lands at the park for a 10 year term for both the Muskoka Paddling Club and the Muskoka Rowing Club.
The Muskoka Rowing Club is a non-profit sports organization that was founded in 1988 by a group of local teachers with an initial focus on the development of a high school rowing program, according to a Town staff report. In 2008, the Town entered a lease with the club to permit the location of a storage building and use of the docks at Kelvin Grove.
The Muskoka Paddle Club is also a not-for-profit organization that’s been operating since 2015. They offer recreational and competitive paddling programs for all ages in canoe, kayak, and stand-up paddleboard. Thier first lease agreement was made in 2016.
According to background information compiled by Town staff, in 1902, the park property was purchased by Mungo Park (M.P.) McKay as a location for his new business venture, the Muskoka Foundry, but in 1917 he relocated the business to a larger building on a nearby street, later to become Entrance Drive.
In 1924, the Bracebridge Motor League purchased the property from M.P. McKay. The Motor Park developed into a gathering and camping area which included amenities such as two kitchens, bath houses, washrooms, lighting and telephone lines. The existing stone building in the park is one of the original kitchens.
In 1935, the Bracebridge Motor League sold the property to the Town of Bracebridge. M.P. McKay was keen to see the Town maintain the camping use of the property which the municipality did until 1971 with the redevelopment of the Bracebridge Bay area.
A condition of the sale to the Town, was that the park be known as Kelvin Grove Park, after a park by the same name, Kelvingrove Park, located on the River Kelvin in McKay’s childhood home of Glasgow, Scotland.
The new lease will cost $1 per year.
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