Atwood Lake Resort and Conference Center has a new owner.
In ceremonies Friday, Carroll County assumed control of the financially troubled 104-room resort and golf course from the Muskingum Conservancy Watershed District.
The district, based in New Philadelphia, donated the facility to the county.
Carroll County commissioners indicated they will begin an aggressive effort to locate an operator and hope to reopen the lodge soon. The resort at Atwood Lake closed in October 2010 after the watershed district was unable to stop mounting financial losses at the facility.
The district had offered the property to Kent State University, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and Carroll County.
The state did not want the lodge. KSU said it was willing to work with other partners but did not want to own the lodge.
The facility lost $1 million in operations in both 2009 and 2010. Its occupancy rate was about 30 percent, while 60 percent was needed to break even, officials said.
It operated with reduced hours in 2010 and was scheduled to be razed in mid-2011, before the latest deal came together.
The lodge is on 600 acres southeast of Canton near Dellroy. It includes the main lodge, dining room, conference center, two golf courses, 17 vacation cabins, two swimming pools and other amenities.
Atwood Lake Resort, opened in 1965, was one of Carroll County’s top employers with about 30 full-time and 70 part-time workers.
Atwood Lake Park with its campground, owned and operated by the watershed district, remains open, along with two privately owned marinas at Atwood Lake.
Bob Downing can be reached at 330-996-3745 or bdowning@thebeaconjournal.com.
