The Auer Family Boathouse property in Burlington’s far north end will be conserved and turned into public parkland following its sale this week to the Winooski Valley Park District.
The nonprofit purchased the 2.7-acre waterfront parcel for $960,000 and plans to eventually open it up for recreation. For now, though, it’s closed to the public.
“We have purchased not just the site, but we’ve got the whole fleet of kayaks that are still in the steel storage building, and historic photos,” said Nick Warner, the district’s executive director. “It’s just an amazing trove of stuff, and we are very aware and sensitive to the fact that that has meaning to a lot of people.”
The property is located on Lake Champlain at the very end of North Avenue. Charlie Auer Jr. and his sister, Christine Auer Hebert, ran a seasonal bait shop, snack bar and boat rental store there for decades, and locals called it “Charlie’s Boathouse.” Many visitors stopped in while riding on the Burlington bike path. The shop closed when Charlie died in 2021, though visitors continued to stop and take in the view. Christine died in 2024.
The Auer and Hebert families put the property on the market last fall for $2.5 million, pitching the potential for development of the secluded — but flood-prone — property.
Instead, the unique parcel, at the confluence of Lake Champlain and the Winooski River, will be conserved and managed by the Winooski Valley Park District. The closing was on Tuesday, but the district wants people to stay off the land until it’s safe and opened to the public, probably sometime in the spring, Warner said.
“It’s a real high priority for us to get people on there as quickly as possible,” Warner said.
The acquisition expands the Winooski Valley Park District’s portfolio in that area of Burlington and neighboring Colchester — a huge part of the property’s appeal, Warner said. The district also operates nearby Delta Park, Derway Island Nature Preserve and Mayes Landing.
“We really appreciated working with the Auer and Hebert families to make this happen and preserve the land for continued public access,” said Susan Gilfillan, the district’s board chair. “And it’s not getting chewed up in private development.”
The conservation easement is held by the Lake Champlain Land Trust, which helped secure the Auer/Hebert property. Charlie Boget, the group’s executive director, said he’d discussed conservation possibilities with Charlie and his sister back in the early 2000s and is grateful to “have secured such a lasting legacy for this special spot on the lake.
“With the addition of this conservation win, the Lake Champlain Land Trust will have conserved and secured permanent public access to four outstanding Burlington outdoor recreation spots, including the City’s iconic Rock Point Natural Area,” Boget said in a statement.
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