By Joel van der Veen
LOREBURN — With construction well underway on Loreburn’s new RV campground, village officials say the facility should be ready for use sometime next month.
The 12-site campground, located on Main Street, is being built in hopes of drawing travellers — and, accordingly, some of their tourism dollars — into the village.
Loreburn Mayor Steven South said Tuesday that the project, with a total cost of around $91,000, has been well received by residents in the village and beyond.
“I think, for the most part, people have been pretty positive toward it,” he said. “We’re hoping to have it going here for the August long weekend.”
The growing volume of tourists in the area means campsites are in high demand, he explained, and many of the towns in the district have opened their own campgrounds.
“Just about everybody’s got ‘em,” he said, adding that Loreburn needs to take advantage of its location. “We are only 10 minutes from the lake.”
The campsite is being constructed on a plot on Main Street east of Saskatchewan Avenue, just steps away from village businesses, and around the corner from the playground.
Councillors had been talking about the project since last summer. South said the village chose the location over another proposed site, near the ball diamonds.
“We do still use the ball diamonds, and didn’t really want to give up any of them yet,” he explained, adding that the village owned most of the land and purchased one lot from a ratepayer to create the site.
Of the 12 sites planned, nine will be constructed with 50-amp electrical service while the remaining three will have 30-amp service.
A small building measuring 20 feet by 22 feet will house bathrooms, showers and laundry facilities. Water and sewer connections have already been installed.
South was on hand, along with Coun. Grant Abbott and administrator Brandy Losie, to accept a $30,000 donation from Enbridge Pipelines, Inc., on Tuesday.
The cheque was presented by central region director Lyle Meena, who was accompanied by senior public relations adviser Les Scott.
The rest of the funding for the project has come from the village. Because of the costs involved, South said council was hesitant to take on the project, but Enbridge’s contribution helped make it viable.
“Once we did get wind of that, we were a little more comfortable, anyways,” he said.
Abbott also expressed his appreciation for Enbridge’s donation, telling the representatives, “We couldn’t have done it without you.”
The village applied for the grant through Enbridge’s Community Investment program. Other contributions came from local residents, who donated their time and labour while the village paid for materials and supplies.
South said the village hopes to expand the campground in future years by adding another three or four sites on adjacent land.