As previously reported, after 68 years of keeping it in the family, the Stow Lake Boathouse is under new management. Bruce McLellan, whose family had run the boathouse fought tooth and nail to keep it, but in the end the city approved a new lease for the New Mexico-based Ortega Family Enterprises. According to a report today, the boathouse’s previous management left their replacement a unique, uh, organic welcome gift.
The 15-year lease awarded to the Ortega family stipulates that the concessionaire will invest $233,000 toward capital improvements to the “popular but deteriorating” boathouse, according to the parks department. The new lease, which will provide a minimum annual rent of $160,000 to the city, will begin in March with a potential five-year extension.
Among the slated improvements is the construction of a new indoor cafe area that will be built over the existing boat repair area, and the replacement of the aging existing fleet of boats at a cost of $152,000, according to the department.
Despite the new vendor, some boathouse favorites will remain intact, including the menu’s pink popcorn. The Ortega family will also provide local and sustainable food options, with most items available for between $5 and $9.
Now, as the Ex’s Melissa Griffin reports, it seems McLellan has finally relented in his fight and given the Ortega family the best local and sustainable welcoming he could think of: shit.
“A Beanie Baby on top of a pile of manure” was discovered in the Boathouse just moments after the previous tenants’ move-out deadline, Griffin reports, quoting a source as saying “I think (the Beanie Baby) was a red dog, but it was on top of a pile of s—, so I didn’t really get a good look at it.”
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