THUNDER BAY – The most valuable house to date is up for grabs in this year’s 33rd annual Fort William Rotary House Lottery.
On July 1, one of 14,000 lucky ticket-holders will win a 1,790 square-foot Dogwood Crescent cab-over style home, worth more than $590,000, a grand prize that includes kitchen appliances.
The home comes complete with up to five bedrooms, a finished basement and a backyard deck that backs onto a wooded area.
More importantly, the money raised will be used to help local organizations, including Wilderness Discovery Camp and the creation of a cardiovascular surgery program at Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre.
All told, the lottery has raised more than $3 million over 32 years.
It’s had a huge impact, said Athena Kreiner, representing the Thunder Bay Health Sciences Foundation.
“I think the community knows that the money that is raised from this house lottery goes back to our community,” she said on Wednesday, at the official launch of ticket sales at the home, which is open to the public on weekends from noon to 5 p.m.
Dave Knutson, the chair of the house lottery committee said it’s a home just about anyone would love to live in.
“It’s fully finished and the basement is also finished. There are two rooms in the basement that could either be bedrooms or studies. There’s a wet bar, family room, fireplace. The upstairs has a large living room with a beautiful kitchen, a spacious master bedroom and a cab-over style over the garage,” Knutson said.
He added the draw has sold out early the past two years, despite an increase in tickets sold to 14,000, nearly double the 6,000 put up for grabs when the house lottery was in its infancy. Last year, 12,000 tickets were sold.
Tickets remain at $100 apiece, or three for $250.
The latter offer has really helped them reach sell-out status sooner, Knutson said, but costs have gone up dramatically in recent years he added, explaining the jump in ticket numbers in 2019.
“Fourteen thousand tickets will result in a net benefit to the community that’s fairly constant to what we’ve achieved in the past. As time has gone on, the cost of land, the cost of building, the real estate values in Thunder Bay have increased, so we find ourselves having to increase the number of tickets.”
About 6,500 different people purchased tickets for last year’s draw, Knutson said.
The home, located at 137 Dogwood Crescent in Sherwood Estates, was built by Lormar Construction.
Tickets are available at the home on weekends, and at a number of outlets around Thunder Bay, including the Airlane Hotel and Conference Centre (cash only), Balmoral Park Acura, the Finnish Bookstore, George Jeffrey Children’s Centre, George’s Market, Wanson Lumber and the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Foundation.
They will not be available at RBC branches as they have been in the past and mail-in brochures will only be available by request.
Ten early-bird draws of $5,000 apiece will also be held weekly between April 17 and June 19. The grand-prize draw will be held on July 1 at about 6:30 p.m. at Marina Park during Canada Day festivities.
For more information, visit www.fwrotary.ca.
