WEB UPDATE: Ennis purchases Bay Shore Motel

The battle for the Bay Shore Motel in downtown Lakeside came to an end 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.

"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.

For more on this story, see the July 1 edition of the West Shore News.