SKOWHEGAN — A slew of improvements planned for Lake George Regional Park on the Skowhegan-Canaan line is expected to help with efforts to sustainably expand the park’s use.

The work this spring is expected to include building a road on the west side of the park, turning a former social hall into an event venue and outdoor recreation base camp and renovating five aging cabins on the lake.

The goal, according to Darryll White, the park’s director: Bring in new sources of revenue to support the park’s operations, while maintaining its natural resources and recreational opportunities for local residents.

“The bottom line of this is sustainability and maintaining affordable access,” White said Wednesday during a tour of the park.

Once the home of Camp Modin, one of the oldest Jewish summer camps in the country, the state bought the 320-acre park off U.S. Route 2 in 1992. The state leases it to the towns of Skowhegan and Canaan, which rely on the Lake George Corp. to manage the park for public use.

About 20,000 people visit the park each year to swim, hike, paddle, ski and attend events, including Maine’s Garlic Fest and Somerset SnowFest, according to its website.

Park Director Darryll White passes the social hall Wednesday at Lake George Regional Park West in Skowhegan. The 3,000-square-foot building has a patio, an indoor fireplace and an outdoor fireplace. The west side of the park has been closed for renovations and construction. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel

Since the park was established in 1992, the goal has been to offer universal, low-cost access, White said.

But user access fees fall short of funding the operating budget, which is why the park began to look for new, sustainable sources of revenue in recent years — beyond just attracting more users.

The west side of the park, in Skowhegan, is typically quieter than the east side, and had more buildings with potential, according to White, who was hired in 2018.

With five cabins, a social hall and a dance hall on the west side, park officials saw an opportunity to improve the facilities and create an event venue for weddings, corporate retreats and other adult uses.

Park Director Darryll White stands Wednesday where a patio is being built at the social hall at Lake George Regional Park West in Skowhegan. The 3,000-square-foot building has a patio, an indoor fireplace and an outdoor fireplace. The west side of the park has been closed for renovations and construction.

More than 60 old buildings have been knocked down since the park was acquired in 1992, and only a few on either side remain standing, White said.

“Some of the buildings were fast becoming liabilities,” White said. “But all of these are potential assets.”

The park’s board of directors began fundraising efforts in 2019, White said, with an initial goal of $75,000. Soon, the park received a $100,000 anonymous donation, and the state approached Lake George about applying for a matching grant through the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund.

Thanks to two more anonymous donations of $100,000 each and additional fundraising, Lake George was able to match a $500,000 conservation fund grant for which it had applied in 2021.

The total of $1 million is to go toward building a road and doing renovations to the cabins and social hall on the west side, White said.

The National Guard, through its Innovation Readiness Training program, is expected to send 165 soldiers to the park June 1 for two weeks to complete the work. The park hosted guardsmen to do work through the same program last year, White said.

Plans call for the new road, which is to have only a few asphalt sections, to run uphill from the park’s entrance to the social hall building. Workers have already begun clearing the wooded area.

Park Director Darryll White gestures Wednesday as he explains the renovations to and other plans for the social hall at Lake George Regional Park West in Skowhegan. The 3,000-square-foot building has a patio, an indoor fireplace and an outdoor fireplace. The west side of the park has been closed for renovations and construction. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel

Plans also call for the approximately 3,000-square-foot social hall, with a capacity of about 200, to be converted into a year-round venue for events and outdoor programming.

Plans for space, which was originally the girls’ mess hall at the summer camp, include a new patio, entrance, windows, lighting and siding. The renovations are also to include a catering space, and eventually a T-shaped addition, White said.

A forced hot air system is expected to allow the space to be used for winter programming, with indoor temperatures of 50 to 60 degrees. A stone chimney with fireplaces inside and outside will be kept.

“There were a couple points in the project when it was like, ‘Why didn’t we just tear it down?’” White said.

The five cabins on the west side — two of which are now closed because of their condition — are also set for a major overhaul, including access that complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act, and a simple design inside. Some of the funding for the cabins is separate from the conservation fund matching grant, White said.

The renovated cabins are to be used to supplement event space, White said, and potential overnight use in the future would be targeted toward local families instead of tourists.

Park Director Darryll White unlocks the gate Wednesday to Lake George Regional Park West in Skowhegan. The west side of the park has been closed for renovations and construction. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel

Beyond this summer, White said the park has long-term improvements planned, including expanding beach access on the Skowhegan and Canaan sides of the lake, building basketball and pickleball courts on the west side, expanding the park’s trail network, continuing to develop the park’s swim instruction program and installing a pedestrian bridge that was acquired from Reid State Park in Georgetown.

Improvements to the park’s facilities contribute to the ongoing effort to develop the Skowhegan region as an outdoor recreation destination, White said.

“I see the park now as a facility to support that effort,” he said.

The improvements are possible only with the support of the community, from those who donate money to those who contribute their time and expertise, White said.

“There’s a lot of community love for this place,” he said.

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