The 700-acre site colloquially known as Camp Picton has been put up for sale for approximately $15 million.
Camp Picton, formerly CFB Picton, on County Road 22 is a World War II air base that was part of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan.
From 1941 until its official closure in 1969 the base housed hundreds of soldiers from various parts of the world. Now, the site is a large swath of history that is considered part of the town of Picton.
Joanne Fralick lives in the Permanent Married Quarters, or PMQs, that were part of Camp Picton.
A decade ago Fralick, who hails from Tweed, and her husband Martin, a native of Belleville, co-authored a book on the history of Camp Picton called Camp Picton: A storied 70 years in a historic Canadian Military Camp.
According to Fralick, the book takes a different aim than just simply the history of the former military camp.
“Many of the people who served there were still in the community. They retired and stayed in the community after their service but they’re aging out and we were were losing them, we were losing their memories. Ours wasn’t so much focused about the numbers and the dates and the programs that were there. Ours was more focused on the people that served there.”
Recently the 700-acre property that houses all the remnants of what was once a fully active military facility was put up for sale.
Fralick said that her main wish for whoever purchases the property would be that they find a way to preserve and maintain all the work that has been done on the property.
“I realize that whoever buys it has got to do something with it to make it turn a profit, make money, but I would like to see whatever they do, that they would respect the integrity and the history of the property. I can’t see them tearing everything down. I can’t see them doing that. That would be a bigger project than the initial investment and it wouldn’t make sense.”
She also emphasized that she would like to see the relationship with the community maintained or improved upon with a museum.
According to Fralick the property houses a handful of local businesses including a glass and window service, a yoga studio, storage facilities, an escape room and an art gallery.
She also said that this past Christmas there was a drive-through Christmas parade hosted on the property.
You can see the property sale listing with information on the site here.
