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After a long decline, what’s dubbed the Grand Old Dame of the Rideau was moribund, shuttered and dark.
Now the historic Opinicon is humming with summer life again – kids lining up for ice cream, families sitting down to lunch in the whitewashed dining room overlooking the lake and grown-ups hoisting a pint in the pub.
So Ottawa’s Fiona McKean, who bought the dilapidated resort in 2015 with her husband, Shopify CEO Tobi Lütke, is hosting a summertime shindig Saturday to officially unveil the results of two years and millions of dollars of renovations.
Restored and gleaming with a vintage vibe are the 1870s main lodge, 16 cottages and ice cream shop in the village of Chaffey’s Lock. A pool is under construction and there are plans for new year-round lodging in the works.
It’s a 90-minute drive southwest that Ottawa families like McKean’s, who cottaged nearby as a kid, had been making for nearly a century before the resort closed and a For Sale sign went up in 2012.
“This was not done for commercial reasons,” McKean said of the revival during a tour this week. “This was a project of the heart and not the mind. It’s a beautiful piece of Ontario and a unique piece of Canada. Someone had to pick it up and gently put it back on its feet again.
“We’ve put more than just money into it. It’s effort and heart into every little thing. It’s been inspiring and the local community has been so supportive.”
After the sale, McKean got hundreds of emails a week from “Opinicon people” – both guests and locals – sharing stories of summers spent there and excitement that it was getting a new life.
Photos: Opinicon Resort
After bare bones offerings in 2016, the resort’s restaurant, with fare by executive chef Angela Baldwin, and pub are ready for grand openings.
The idea of live local music on the lake was first floated by musician Luther Wright, who used to go to the Opinicon with his mother. He’ll headline Saturday’s festival with his bluegrass-country band, Luther Wright and the Wrongs.
There’s music from morning until evening over three stages, including one at a new kids’ nature playground complete with a zip line and another in a forested glade where live-edge benches were made from trees felled during the restoration work.
It’s a chance for visitors, whether old friends or those who’ve never made the trek, to check out the grounds and maybe stop for a cone, McKean said.
She’s hoping it will become a new annual tradition at an institution with no shortage of old ones.
Among the more than 100 staff who now work at the Opinicon are both those who remember its heyday and local teens with newly-minted summer jobs.
Sherry Weeks, at work behind the front desk, was barely a teenager when she got her first job as a waitress in the late 1970s.
“I just fell in the love with the place,” she said. “Where can you go where you can see that beautiful lake every day? You see deer and hear loons and meet wonderful people. We had guests who’d been coming since I was just a kid.”
Weeks stayed, even as the Opinicon “petered out,” then abruptly closed.
She pronounced the new incarnation “beautiful.”
“Someone could have torn it down and built a Holiday Inn,” Weeks said. “These old resorts are hard to find. We can build it back to where it was and even beyond. Everyone who works here has the same love of the place.”
At work as a waiter in the white-tableclothed dining room is 17-year-old Brett Hawkins, a student at Rideau District High School, which now holds its graduation dances at the Opinicon.
“I love the mix of generations,” McKean said. “It tells you that there’s a future for the place.”
Info:
What: The Opinicon Lake Music Festival
Where: The Opinicon Dining and Resort, 1697 Chaffey’s Lock Rd.
When: Saturday, July 8
10 a.m.-noon – Children’s activities
11 a.m. – Kids show with fun folk group Butterfingers
1:30 p.m. – Krista Muir and Lederhosen Lucil
2:15 p.m. – Folk duo Hadley & Boo
3 p.m. – The Rizdales, “hardcore honky tonk” led by husband-and-wife duo Tom and Tara Dunphy
3:45 p.m. – Juno-nominated singer-songwriter Oh Susanna
4:30 p.m. – Wolfe Island singer-songwriter Hugh Christopher Brown
7 p.m. – Luther Wright and The Wrongs
How much: Free admission, cash barbecue $1-$5
查看原文...
Now the historic Opinicon is humming with summer life again – kids lining up for ice cream, families sitting down to lunch in the whitewashed dining room overlooking the lake and grown-ups hoisting a pint in the pub.
So Ottawa’s Fiona McKean, who bought the dilapidated resort in 2015 with her husband, Shopify CEO Tobi Lütke, is hosting a summertime shindig Saturday to officially unveil the results of two years and millions of dollars of renovations.
Restored and gleaming with a vintage vibe are the 1870s main lodge, 16 cottages and ice cream shop in the village of Chaffey’s Lock. A pool is under construction and there are plans for new year-round lodging in the works.
It’s a 90-minute drive southwest that Ottawa families like McKean’s, who cottaged nearby as a kid, had been making for nearly a century before the resort closed and a For Sale sign went up in 2012.
“This was not done for commercial reasons,” McKean said of the revival during a tour this week. “This was a project of the heart and not the mind. It’s a beautiful piece of Ontario and a unique piece of Canada. Someone had to pick it up and gently put it back on its feet again.
“We’ve put more than just money into it. It’s effort and heart into every little thing. It’s been inspiring and the local community has been so supportive.”
After the sale, McKean got hundreds of emails a week from “Opinicon people” – both guests and locals – sharing stories of summers spent there and excitement that it was getting a new life.
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Photos: Opinicon Resort
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Photos: Opinicon Resort
Fiona McKean on the front veranda of the main building as the Opinicon Resort is up and running after a major renovation and restoration over the last two and half years. Wayne Cuddington/Postmedia
Fiona McKean in front of one of the cottages as the Opinicon Resort is up and running after a major renovation and restoration over the last two and half years. Wayne Cuddington/Postmedia
The Ice Cream Shop open to the public as the Opinicon Resort is up and running after a major renovation and restoration over the last two and half years. Wayne Cuddington/Postmedia
The dining room has become hugely popular as the Opinicon Resort is up and running after a major renovation and restoration over the last two and half years. Wayne Cuddington/Postmedia
Front desk staff Sherry Weeks in the main reception area as the Opinicon Resort is up and running after a major renovation and restoration over the last two and half years. Wayne Cuddington/Postmedia
Fiona McKean and husband Tobi Lütke in front of the Opinicon Store as the Opinicon Resort is up and running after a major renovation and restoration over the last two and half years. Wayne Cuddington/Postmedia
A mounted fish in one of the cottages as the Opinicon Resort is up and running after a major renovation and restoration over the last two and half years. Wayne Cuddington/Postmedia
The main reception area as the Opinicon Resort is up and running after a major renovation and restoration over the last two and half years. Wayne Cuddington/Postmedia
A server is silhouetted in the dining room as the Opinicon Resort is up and running after a major renovation and restoration over the last two and half years. Wayne Cuddington/Postmedia
Fiona McKean in the resaurant as the Opinicon Resort is up and running after a major renovation and restoration over the last two and half years. Wayne Cuddington/Postmedia
The main building that includes the bar and restaurant as the Opinicon Resort is up and running after a major renovation and restoration over the last two and half years. Wayne Cuddington/Postmedia
Stairs to the second level at the Opinicon Resort . Wayne Cuddington/Postmedia
A lounge area on the second level as the Opinicon Wayne Cuddington/Postmedia
The bathroom in one of the cottages at the Opinicon Resort. Wayne Cuddington/Postmedia
Artwork on display in one of the cottages at the Opinicon Resort. Wayne Cuddington/Postmedia
The restaurant features inspirations such as this pizza by head chef Angela Baldwin. Wayne Cuddington/Postmedia
The restaurant features inspirations such as this chicken sandwich by head chef Angela Baldwin as the Opinicon Resort is up and running after a major renovation and restoration over the last two and half years. Wayne Cuddington/Postmedia
Server Brett Hawkins, 17, carries food into the dining room along with owner Fiona McKean. Wayne Cuddington/Postmedia
After bare bones offerings in 2016, the resort’s restaurant, with fare by executive chef Angela Baldwin, and pub are ready for grand openings.
The idea of live local music on the lake was first floated by musician Luther Wright, who used to go to the Opinicon with his mother. He’ll headline Saturday’s festival with his bluegrass-country band, Luther Wright and the Wrongs.
There’s music from morning until evening over three stages, including one at a new kids’ nature playground complete with a zip line and another in a forested glade where live-edge benches were made from trees felled during the restoration work.
It’s a chance for visitors, whether old friends or those who’ve never made the trek, to check out the grounds and maybe stop for a cone, McKean said.
She’s hoping it will become a new annual tradition at an institution with no shortage of old ones.
Among the more than 100 staff who now work at the Opinicon are both those who remember its heyday and local teens with newly-minted summer jobs.
Sherry Weeks, at work behind the front desk, was barely a teenager when she got her first job as a waitress in the late 1970s.
“I just fell in the love with the place,” she said. “Where can you go where you can see that beautiful lake every day? You see deer and hear loons and meet wonderful people. We had guests who’d been coming since I was just a kid.”
Weeks stayed, even as the Opinicon “petered out,” then abruptly closed.
She pronounced the new incarnation “beautiful.”
“Someone could have torn it down and built a Holiday Inn,” Weeks said. “These old resorts are hard to find. We can build it back to where it was and even beyond. Everyone who works here has the same love of the place.”
At work as a waiter in the white-tableclothed dining room is 17-year-old Brett Hawkins, a student at Rideau District High School, which now holds its graduation dances at the Opinicon.
“I love the mix of generations,” McKean said. “It tells you that there’s a future for the place.”
Info:
What: The Opinicon Lake Music Festival
Where: The Opinicon Dining and Resort, 1697 Chaffey’s Lock Rd.
When: Saturday, July 8
10 a.m.-noon – Children’s activities
11 a.m. – Kids show with fun folk group Butterfingers
1:30 p.m. – Krista Muir and Lederhosen Lucil
2:15 p.m. – Folk duo Hadley & Boo
3 p.m. – The Rizdales, “hardcore honky tonk” led by husband-and-wife duo Tom and Tara Dunphy
3:45 p.m. – Juno-nominated singer-songwriter Oh Susanna
4:30 p.m. – Wolfe Island singer-songwriter Hugh Christopher Brown
7 p.m. – Luther Wright and The Wrongs
How much: Free admission, cash barbecue $1-$5
查看原文...
