By Emily Stonehouse

It’s official, the Frost Centre property has been sold.

The well-known location in Algonquin Highlands has captivated many over the years. The towering buildings off Highway 35, headed towards Dorset, have sat empty for some years.

But prior to that, it was a hustling and bustling hub of youth and activity.

Originally built in 1944, the Frost Centre was known as the Ranger School, as it was built in collaboration between the Province of Ontario and the University of Toronto Faculty of Forestry, to educate government officials and university students through both in-class sessions, and amongst the great outdoors.

By 1969, the purpose of the facility shifted gears slightly, when the curriculum was taken over by Ontario’s colleges and universities. In 1974, the Ontario Premier at the time, William G. Davis, officially called the education centre the Leslie M. Frost Natural Resources Centre, and it became the first outdoor facility completely dedicated to environmental education in Ontario.

In 1976, Barrie Martin came onto the scene. As a recent graduate from the University of Guelph. He was starting a project that focused on bird populations around the area, which had a start time of 5 a.m. each day. And the stage was set for the next nearly three decades of his life.

The centre introduced him to some of his best friends, his wife, and colleagues who he would work alongside with in a number of other contexts.

But in 2004, the facility was shut down. “It was a tragedy on so many levels,” recalled Martin, noting the 35 people who were given three weeks notice before the end of their careers onsite.

Shortly after the closure, the provincial government issued a request for proposal (RFP) to welcome new organizations to the site. This was when the Ontario Public Service Employees Union stepped in. They purchased the property for over $3 million, with the intention of creating a retreat-like space for their members.

As many locals would know, the vision never came to fruition, with the property landing back on the market a few years ago.

And just last week, a sold sticker was stamped across that fading For Sale sign on the property. Martin shared that the real estate agent, Jonathan Weizel of Royal LePage Terre Equity Realty, confirmed that the new owner plans to operate a substance abuse and mental health rehab facility at the site.

While details have yet to be finalized or confirmed, this newspaper reached out to the representative of the buyer, Capital North Realty, and did not receive a response at the time of publication.

“Having worked there for 28 years, I was pretty interested in the organization and what it did,” said Martin. “This was a groundbreaking effort to bring specialists together. A lot of the information collected there was the basis of curriculum in Ontario schools.”

Martin and a series of former colleagues from his Frost Centre days made an effort to bring interest to the site, with a number of tours and information sessions dedicated to the history and possibilities of the site.

Many of the buildings on the 40 acre lot that hugs the shores of Lake St. Nora are designated heritage buildings, meaning that major renovations or alterations to the site would be challenging, in an effort to maintain accordance within the regulations.

“I’m really hopeful that this new owner will make a go of it,” said Martin. “And I hope he is open for community engagement.”

Further updates on the development of the site will be shared once they are made available.