By Ruby Pratka
Local Journalism Initiative
Canoeists, kayakers and people using other non-motorized boats can now push off from Carke Terrace after the Town of Brome Lake (TOBL) completed the installation of a small dock there.
“This structure allows users to put their small non-motorized boats such as paddle boards, kayaks, sailboards or canoes in the water, in order to be able to access the lake safely,” town officials said in a public announcement.
TOBL assistant director of technical services Marc-André Boivin also said construction would begin shortly on a long-planned “sanitary block” including public restrooms, lockers and changing rooms at Carke Terrace, along with an expanded parking lot, a retaining basin for rainwater runoff and a paved sidewalk leading to the lake. Construction is expected to be finished by the holidays, Boivin said. The new facilities are aimed at people who want to kayak, paddleboard and swim in the lake but who can’t access the lake from their own property.
The municipality took out a $1.3-million loan in April to fund the upgrades to the terrace. The land, where the landmark Terrace Inn stood until the 1970s, was purchased from the Poulin family by the Carke Foundation in 2019 and given to the town for use as a public park.
“Ultimately, we want Carke Terrace to be an access point to the lake for residents and visitors,” Boivin said. “There has been a lot of privatization of the banks of the lake recently, and it’s important to provide a public access point for people who don’t live on the lake, and also a public green space.”
Boivin said the dock, washrooms, changing rooms and expanded parking lot are “phase one” of the municipality’s plans for Carke Terrace. “Depending on how things evolve, we have space to expand the installation with more parking spaces…we’ll see in the future,” he said.