Ennis purchases Bay Shore Motel

The battle for the Bay Shore Motel in downtown Lakeside came to an end last Monday morning, when By The Lake Realty finalized a deal with Bruce Ennis, who last year purchased the neighboring Mattson property with the intention of converting the land into a county park.

Real estate agent Martin Tetachuck was busy filling out paperwork for the property on Monday afternoon, after Ennis sealed the deal at 11 that morning, purchasing the motel and property for a mere $800,000.

Ennis said he had considered purchasing the property when it first went on the market, sometime last fall, but had considered the $2 million asking price to be too high. Earlier this spring, the fate of the establishment became a contest between Ennis and another local business, Wild Wave Watercraft Rental. However, when negotiations with Wild Wave fell through, Ennis stepped up to close the deal with Bay Shore owner Lee Smith.

Ennis he will continue to lease the motel to Smith through the summer months, since Smith has already booked rooms through the end of the season. Smith will manage and operate the motel until the fall.

Though he was unwilling to comment further on the fate of the property, Ennis did say that he has no desire to run a motel.

"Our idea is that the property will become a part of the park," Ennis said. "How that is going to work is still a ways off."

Ultimately, Ennis said he would like to combine the lake frontage and spread the newly planned park out a little more. However, despite some rough conceptual designs, none of the plans have become concrete at this point.

"The whole concept of the park takes on a twist when we look at including the Bay Shore property, because it enables us to combine the lake frontage and kind of spread things out a little," he said.

Ennis said he and his wife, Margaret, plan to have information to show the community at the Lakeside Fair, next month. Until then, he will work closely with the Lakeside Area Parks Committee.

He added that he is looking for ways to engage the community, including those who are opposed to the idea of using the Mattson and Bay Shore properties for a lake-front park. He envisions a park that the community can feel a sense of ownership of and also view as an asset to Lakeside that residents could take pride in.