THUNDER BAY – The owners of Thunder Bay’s KOA campground say they’d like to be welcoming campers with open arms, but provincial COVID-19 restrictions mean most will have to wait.
The province announced Thursday that private campgrounds like KOA could begin opening, but only to allow access to those with a full season contract for their trailers and RVs and to do preparation work.
Kristie Kuper, who owns the Thunder Bay KOA with her family, said initial messaging from the premier left them under the impression a full opening was imminent.
“We were pretty excited we could open the park – Premier Ford said, private parks are open, that was [what] was said,” related Kuper. “So we get excited and think, we’ve got a lot of work to do. We’ve been preparing for weeks.”
The partial opening left her with mixed feelings.
“We’re excited to see our long-term family, but we’re missing our overnight people – the people that come from Atikokan, the people that come in for medical appointments, the people that have arranged to stay for three or six weeks while they’re having their cancer treatments – and we have to turn them away at the gate.”
Many visitors to her location are in town for short-term work contracts or medical appointments, Kuper said. She argued barring the campgrounds to short-term visitors leaves them with few options, asking whether it would be safer for those visitors to park at a Walmart or Flying J.
“Now we’ll have to have someone at the gate turning them away,” she said. “We should be welcoming them with open arms.”
With a provincial fire ban lifted as of Saturday, Kuper hoped those with seasonal contracts would come enjoy time at the campground. However, most amenities – such as the store, camp kitchen, and playground are closed. Many KOAs that don’t offer seasonal contracts remain closed entirely, Kuper said.
Kuper has reached out to the province and her local MPP to ask them to reconsider the restrictions, she said.
