No immediate changes are expected to impact campers at Port Huron Township’s recreational vehicle park this season as the final sale of the property moves forward with a new owner.
The township’s board approved a $2 million purchase agreement with a 90-day due diligence period with Steve Ureel, president and CEO of Rochester-based Parkbridge Investment Group, Inc. in January. And earlier this month, a deed for the purchase of the park, 2301 Water St., to Ureel’s PH RV Resort LLC at $1.7 million was filed with the St. Clair County register of deeds.
However, Ureel said it will be another few months before his plans for the park — aiming to turn it into a destination campground and glamping site — became concrete.
“I’m now engaging with an architectural design engineer to define a master plan for the improvements over the next 36 months,” he said in an interview Thursday. “Those improvements will include the phasing in of a new clubhouse, pool, the dog run and pickleball court, kayak and canoe and bike rental services, the addition of 30 to 40 full-service, wooded premium campground sites, as well as eventually the addition over the next 24 to 36 months somewhere between 10 and 20 cabin/cottage rentals.”
For now, the township park is already welcoming seasonal campers.
Park Manager Diane Goble said as of Thursday they were at least half or nearly two-thirds full. There are 137 sites. She was expecting 25 more campers this weekend.
“It’s not as busy as normal. But it’s getting there. It’s coming back. But of course, come June 1, a lot of my snowbirds will be back. They kind of put off coming when it’s colder weather,” she said. “So, they’re waiting for temperatures to get up a little bit. … We’ll be full as far as my full hook-up sites with water, electric, and sewer. Those sites will all be taken. But I still have some water and electric sites available, so there’s still room for people to come in.”
This year marked her thirteenth overseeing things after being asked to return amid the transition in ownership, and she said she’s hoping for a good season, welcoming back Canadian campers previously restricted from travel during the pandemic.
What upgrades are also needed for the RV park?
There were plenty of campers in the park Thursday, though not too many people outside amidst the warm but windy weather.
We’re hoping to bring back our entertainment and things we use to do. On the schedule, we used to do those things a lot.”
Dale Newell was out walking his poodles, Cleo and James. Normally from Sequim, Washington, he arrived with his wife, who’s from Port Huron, in their camper Tuesday.
The township’s park has been a regular stop for six years. When asked about is needed, Newell said he hops to see better roads, adding, “If you were here this morning, this was a muck mess.”
But he wasn’t sure if he wanted to see things change otherwise.
“There’s a lot of older people here. I don’t know if the pool is something they want. Where I come from it’s very cold and still cold, but this is a very warm day, as you can see,” Newell said. “I just hope it doesn’t change a whole lot, the price doesn’t go way up. You know, this is a reasonable price.”
Currently, Newell says he pays close to $500 a month, including power and water.
Price was among the things that, Ureel said, is still being worked out in the planning process.
Everything else — the design and amenities — he called the fun part.
“For us as a team,” Ureel said. “To take a property that’s considered a rusty campground and make those changes.”
Goble said she thought some of the improvements that may come with a new owner and renovation, such as upgraded water lines and additional full hookup sites, were “very much needed” to help “build the park up.”
Ureel said he still needs to go through the permitting and approval processes at the local and state level before he also finalizes a timeline for working on the campground. He’s previously said he expected to break ground in 2023.
On Thursday, he said he still wanted to accommodate the existing seasonal U.S. and Canadian campers while adding amenities that’d “only strengthen the long-term” of the park.
Goble had just one other message for visitors.
“We are here, we’re open and we would like people to stop in and give us a shot, give us a try,” she said. “We’re hoping to bring back our entertainment and things we use to do. On the schedule, we used to do those things a lot. But then, COVID put things on the backburner.”
