Animaland gets new lease on life

Charlene Wilkins and her husband Tom are among the first to enjoy a brand new campsite with old-school roots.

“It’s Animaland from when you were a little kid,” said camper Charlene Wilkins.

The theme park originally opened in the early ’60s and was shuttered in the mid-’90s.

It’s been falling into disrepair and has been victim to vandals ever since, but now, the park has re-opened.

“We were trying to be resourceful and use what we have to make it what it was before, so we decided we’re gonna try to do some camping,” said co-owner Ulric Fournier.

Nestled among the animal sculptures, the campground has 24 sites, all equipped with electricity, water and septic connections, everything a traditional campground needs, with an added “modern” requirement.

“We have a state-of-the-art WiFi setup. Kids always want to look at their iPads — we have a nice system to take care of that,” added Fournier.

For Fournier, this is a labour of love, and he’s getting some help from locals, but there’s still a lot of work to be done.

The animal sculptures need to be repainted and the grounds need some landscaping, but people are already impressed.

“It was pretty cool actually — we saw the eagle statue, the bear statue, the cougar statue which is across the broken bridge, but he’ll probably fix that later,” said camper Linda Ross.

The campground is also ideally located for off-road enthusiasts. It sits right at the beginning of Trail 3401, a major connector to the trail system in the Shepody, N.B., area.

“It’s gonna be ATV-friendly and RV-friendly so it’s a really good opportunity just to be able to camp and bike at the same time,” said Wilkins.

The sign to the entrance of the campsite is not up yet, but “Blowhard,” the official mascot is ready to welcome campers who want to rekindle old memories or make new ones.