The Owen Sound Eastside Snowmobile Club is now considering its next steps after its clubhouse burned down this week.
Kevin Matheson, who is the District 9 President, and the past president of the club says that it’s a difficult reality to face.
The OSESSC announced the loss of their clubhouse on social media.
“Being a younger member of the club, it certainly is difficult, but I’m sure there older, founding members of the club who may not be involved anymore who have seen the pictures on Facebook or heard [otherwise], who will certainly be more upset about the time that they have put in to develop that amenity on the trail.”
Matheson says that the building was originally part of a CN building that was set to be demolished until members of the snowmobile club in the 1980s decided to save it and make it their clubhouse.
He says that current President Wayne Benedict had noticed smoke and when he came upon the clubhouse, it was fully engulfed in flames.
The early morning blaze happened on Monday, February 6th.
The Inter-Township Fire Department tried to respond, but because of the clubhouse’s location, the firefighting equipment wasn’t able to get close enough.
The cause of the blaze is under investigation.
No injuries were reported, and Matheson says it’s likely because the fire occurred early Monday morning when nobody is typically around.
Since the loss of the structure, the OSESSC’s members have been left reeling.
Luckily, they’ve had support from far and wide following their loss.
“Certainly the first day or two we delayed putting a post on [Facebook] because we were all kind of overwhelmed with… ‘hey, where do we go next?’ We put the post out there, and the response from not only our local community, [and] local snowmobile clubs, but as far away as West Nippising, Bonfield, all across the province. Snowmobile clubs and people who are involved in the snowmobile industry have reached out to us.”
He says they’ve also received offers for help to clean up and rebuild, which he says, “It’s been kind of been therapeutic for all of the members to see those comments.”
Matheson says that the club will have a meeting in the spring to discuss the future of the site, or whether they’ll replace the clubhouse since it’s on private property.
“We have to have discussions with [the] landowner first to see what they would allow if we were to rebuild, what the scope of that project could look like or not look like, and then move forward from there. Certainly, we’re looking at a spring cleanup when we can get equipment up there, and then a meeting to discuss future possibilities.”
