For the first time, Friday Harbour Resort in Innisfil is opening its Beach Club restaurant to all local residents.
The club, which has glass walls and sits on the shore of Lake Simcoe, is normally reserved for people who own units at the resort.
Now, anyone will be allowed to access the restaurant until March 31.
James DiRenzo, CEO of Friday Harbour, is hoping people will come for the food and stay for all the amenities available for public use year-round at the resort.
“We haven’t been avoiding people here. We were trying to catch up. We didn’t really have anything going for us,” he said, noting the resort’s golf course just opened in September and the marina last summer.
“It’s a whole different ball game now. There’s stuff to do,” added Leanne Ruest, chief sales and services officer at Friday Harbour.
Inviting members of the public to come check out the resort will hopefully showcase all the resort has to offer, much of which many people do not know is available, she said.
“People don’t realize they are free to enjoy what we have to offer.”
The Beach Club has a large fireplace in the centre of the restaurant, nautical-themed decor, and gourmet food, such as pan-seared salmon, coconut Thai curry, Beach Club cheeseburger, cheesecake, and apple pie tarts.
“Our goal is to make non-owners owners,” DiRenzo said with a laugh.
But anyone is invited year round, whether they own property there or not, to check out a variety of activities.
These range from snowshoeing, to cross-country skiing, to trekking seven kilometres of trails in a nature preserve, to shinny and free skating on an ice rink steps from Lake Simcoe. There is equipment and skate rental on site.
There are also fire pits, tennis and basketball courts, and a playground, with bocce and horseshoe courts in the works for later this year.
Members of the public are also welcome to attend any Friday Harbour events, including fireworks displays, craft activities, and social card nights at the Starbucks on site at 391 Big Bay Point Rd., in Innisfil.
A number of businesses on site are also open to homeowners and the public, including a grocery store, and an LCBO, Avenue Restaurant, and Newmarket-based ADM Designs are expected to open there later this year.
Currently, about 600 units are occupied, and, depending how many homeowners are there in the spring, Friday Harbour could potentially extend Beach Club access to everyone past March, Ruest said.
For now, anyone can stop by the Beach Club or check out the resort’s Winter Wonder Weekend March 2-3, when it will drop all rental fees for equipment and skates.
“Innisfil is so undiscovered,” said DiRenzo. “When I came up here, I was hooked.”
For more information, visit the website or call 705-812-8880.
Beach Club hours:
Open seven days a week.
Monday to Thursday: Noon to 8 p.m.
Friday and Saturday: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Sunday: 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
