In 2024 a Kincardine Councilor presented (to Council) questions related to the "purpose of the conveyance" of the land located at 847 Saugeen Street in Kincardine; the home of the Bluewater Trailer Park.

In a closed meeting on March 13, 2024, Kincardine Council spoke with legal representation as to whether the campground is being used as it was intended when it was donated to the Municipality of Kincardine in 1882. And on September 25, 2024 Kincardine Council voted in a majority vote to close the Bluewater Trailer Park effective October 2027. (Councilor Bill Stewart and Councilor Andrea Clark voted against).

To provide a little perspective; Bluewater Trailer Park sits on 4 parcels of land; two of which were donated by the late Levi and Isabella Rightmeyer in October of 1882. In the deed, it was specified that it should be used as a public park, garden or walk forever.

As far back as the early 1900's, the Municipality of Kincardine operated this land as a campground called the Kincardine Tourist Camp which evolved into the Bluewater Trailer Park decades later.

Families have been coming to Kincardine to camp at the beach front campground for over a generation. These families come from all over Canda and the United States and sink thousands of dollars into our community year after year; yet in 2024 this Council decided that Mr. Rightmeyer didn't intend the property to be used as a campground? After one hundred years of being a campground. Did all of the elected Councilors over the last one hundred years get it wrong?

Kincardine Council has stated "that it has no plans in place at this time, for the future use of the Bluewater Trailer Park following the end of the Lease Agreement in October 2027". Councilor Bill Stewart went so far as to say that the Town can't maintain the property at this time and shouldn't be closed while there is no plan for the land in the near future.

A recent letter submitter to the editor of the Kincardine Independent stated that "This decision made by this Council is not just a loss of a recreational area; it represents a troubling shift in our values and a significant erasure of our town's history. This Council has decided that every previous Council was not honoring the wishes of its benefactor who envisioned a space for community enjoyment. By closing it down, we are disregarding those intentions and the legacy they left behind."

By creating this Petition, it is the intention (of the campers of Bluewater Trailer Park near and far) to seek the support of the general public, to get enough support to ask council to reconsider their decision.

The Kincardine people who elect our Municipal Governments should have a voice.

Let's protect the legacy of Mr. Rightmeyer and SAVE BLUEWATER TRAILER PARK! Protect the dollars being invested into our community (until such a time, the COMMUNITY requests a change).

Please sign our Petition to show your support!