Campers 'stunned' by shutdown of Lake Nipissing campground

A Sturgeon Falls campground will be pulling up stakes at the end of the season.

Dutrisac Cottages, which has been a fixture on the shores of Lake Nipissing for 65 years, said in a Facebook post that 2017 will be the campground's last season.

The post didn't specify a reason for the closure, but Denis Charlebois, a longtime camper at Dutrisac Cottages, told CBC News that Mike Stevens, the owner of the property, sent an eviction notice to all campers.

"On Monday, [Stevens] had received news from the ministry he had to put in some major repairs in the park, and just wasn't prepared to do that," Charlebois said.

"He decided that it was best to close the doors because he didn'twant to spend all that money. He was basically forced to do this."

Charlebois said the decision to close came as a surprise to the approximately 200 campers, some who have raised kids on the campground overmany years.

"It hit everybody by surprise,it stuns you at first," Charlebois said. "A lotof people will havea hard time moving out of this place. By no means is this the owner's fault. You can'tblame him for any of that."

The company posted a goodbye letter on the campground's Facebook page, saying "we had to announce that this would be the last season for the park."

The post goes on to say that "we wish it could have been otherwise."

The campground also is letting campers stay until the summer is done, giving campers until after Thanksgiving to remove all belongings from the park.

The Ministry of Environment has not yet responded to the CBC's emails.