St. Clair Township Council approved a motion during a meeting April 20, for a third-party study to be done on the Mooretown Campground, in hopes of avoiding its closure.
The 141-site campground is in need of several infrastructure repairs and is slated to close at the end of the 2026 camping season.
"It was tabled last year, and it came up. It's been the year, and council decided to keep it going and getting an outside source to come in and check everything, all the numbers and whatever, and we'll go from there." Mayor Jeff Agar told Sarnia News Today.
The study is to determine the cost of repairing the campground, including the washrooms, pool, and other facilities.
Currently, the estimated cost of repairs is between $1 million and $2 million. Although Agar hopes the study will help determine more exact costs.
"I'm hoping that we get different ideas of how much it will cost for different areas. And it's like anything else, you can do it for half of what is quoted, like $1 million to $2 million. That's a pretty big range to try to work off of. So it'd be nice to get something a little closer to what the actual cost will be," he said.
There was hope council would put forward a motion to end the possibility of a closure altogether, but that hasn't happened.
"I hope we can find out some different ways to keep it going. Because it's a jewel to the township, too. And I personally have been going there for years and years. I don't camp there, but I go through there all the time, and it's a beautiful piece of property," said Agar.
Community members have been rallying together to keep the campground, hoping the township can get the grants and funds needed to keep things running.
The mayor noted that if nothing changes by the end of this camping season, there will be a new council in November after the upcoming municipal election, and they could change things.
The Mooretown Campground offers 82 seasonal sites, 57 transient sites and three cabins with washroom, shower and laundry facilities.
The site opens for the season on May 1 and closes on October 15.
You can watch the entire council meeting online, through the township's YouTube page.
