The village and town did a nearly $1 million upgrade at Evergreen Park and Campgrounds that went into use Memorial Day weekend.

The lower camping area now boasts 32 sites with high-powered electrical hookups and water and sewer connections — no having to move to empty or fill tanks. Each site has a fire ring as well.

Another addition: coin-operated shower facilities, three regular and one that meets Americans with Disabilities Act, or ADA, accessibility standards.

The in-park pavilion has been outfitted with a commercial kitchen, complete with deep sinks, an industrial-size refrigerator, stove and oven. The venue was rewired, too, to accommodate multiple appliances being brought in for events such as weddings and graduations.

The pavilion at Evergreen Park and Campground has been outfitted with a commercial kitchen, complete with deep sinks, an industrial refrigerator, stove and oven. (Betsy Bloom/Daily News photo)

“The worst thing you can have,” said Sara Pullen, administrator/treasurer for the village of Wausaukee, “is go to plug in two Nescos and blow the power.”

The remaining pit toilets in the park were replaced with flushing bathrooms with stalls.

It’s transformed the campground “into a hidden gem,” Pullen said.

First envisioned in 2018, work on the park project had been expected to start in 2019 and be completed in a year. But initial bids came in high, then the coronavirus pandemic intruded, Pullen said. It further pushed up prices and delayed availability of materials and workers.

In the end, a project originally estimated at $600,000 rose to well over $900,000, she said. The village did obtain a $300,000 Knowles-Nelson Stewardship grant from the Department of Natural Resources, which helped with the cost.

Despite the setbacks, Pullen is confident the extra expense will prove a sound investment.

Already, the park this season has brought $27,500 in rentals, compared with about $12,000 in good years in the past, Pullen said.

“We’ve had more campers than ever before,” she said.

But even more, Pullen thinks the campground will benefit the entire community by driving traffic to area businesses.

While the park pavilion now has the kitchen, it has no “store” with food or other products on site except for a soda vending machine.

Those who camp there hopefully will provide business for the local grocery store, restaurants, the Ice Cream Station — and in the process perhaps stop in the other shops in the village, Pullen said.

The park still has its eight “rustic” camp sites for those who prefer to use a tent and forego other amenities. That area always had restrooms with sinks but no showers.

Oddly, those eight sites drew well in 2020, generating $9,500 in rentals, not far off the $11,000 taken in 2019.

“With the pandemic, this (camping) was all you could do,” Pullen noted. “So many people turned to camping, it just felt (like a) normal (year).”

Now that renovation work is completed at Evergreen Park, the campgrounds will be open May 1 through Oct. 15. Campground site rental rates are $39 a night, $234 a week, $500 a month and $2,100 for the entire season.

The rustic sites are $25 a day or $150 a week. Monthly and seasonal rentals are not allowed in the rustic camping area.

The park pavilion rental is $100 a day.

Feedback on the changes has been positive, Pullen said. The rare criticism has been the lack of trees between campsites, which they have tried to address by planting 39 trees, but those will take time to grow.

The rest of the 18-acre park includes a basketball court and two tennis courts, a sand volleyball area and a new ADA-accessible fishing platform along the Wausaukee River, a Class 2 trout stream. A trail also connects to nearby Steve Stumbris Memorial Park.

Pullen believes the improvements leave Wausaukee well positioned to appeal not only to the “snowbirds” looking for a place to park their home-like mobile homes for summer in the north but also the more recent trend of campers looking for “gas tank” destinations to get away for a relaxing weekend.

“It’s almost like the ‘Field of Dreams,'” Pullen said. “If you build it, they will come.”