323-acre Rutland residence bought by EcoTarium is slated to be camp for little ones

The EcoTarium is slated to reopen to the public April 23.

WORCESTER — The EcoTarium museum of science and nature sold 323 acres of generally wooded land in Rutland to a private buyer for $400,000.

The land includes a 7-acre pond and 15 properties from a previous camp utilized for instructional needs.

The customer is “intrigued in reviving the previous ecological camp on the property,” mentioned Keith Ross of LandVest, Inc., the broker for the deal.

“It will be a camp for young children,” said Kerry Castorano, vice president of institutional progression and education for the EcoTarium.

In accordance to Ross, condition limitations on the assets restrict the land’s use.

“It are not able to be utilized as residential,” he claimed.

The EcoTarium, positioned at 222 Harrington Way in Worcester, announced final week that it will reopen its outdoor displays, trails and grounds to the public April 23 just after remaining shut for around 7 months.

Last summer season, it had cited the major economical outcomes of the COVID-19 pandemic for closing Sept. 4, with the end result of a decline of team positions.

Attendance experienced been down just about 90%. The EcoTarium experienced closed March 13 previous year because of the pandemic and had a limited reopening of its outdoor grounds June 4.

However, Castorano said the sale was “not in response to that (financial effects) immediately.”

The EcoTarium had utilized the home as a summer months camp but the journey from Worcester to the camp “turned prohibitive” and the camp has not been running for many decades.

The EcoTarium “was not working with the land” and was “mulling around what to do with the land,” Castorano explained.

“It just hadn’t been used for a very long time, which is regrettable due to the fact it really is a attractive assets,” she explained.

Although the EcoTarium has been shut, it has been offering an array of programing on-line.

In the meantime, with the April 23 reopening in look at, the EcoTarium has been publishing positions and choosing people today back again.

The 323-acre Rutland house is on Sassawanna Road, off Route 56. It was outlined for sale previous April and sold for $400,000 on March 12.

The purchaser is stated as Sassawanna Lake LLC, in accordance to the Worcester Registry of Deeds.

In accordance to a description of the assets, it was gifted to what is now the EcoTarium in 1950 and grew to become the Daniels Forestry Camp, educating pupils in the functional and theoretical foundations of forestry and environmental get the job done.

The camp ongoing right up until the mid-1960s, when many buildings ended up made to guidance the training applications. Fifteen of people buildings continue to be, “in weak condition.”

In 1981, a conservation restriction was bought more than the home to the point out that prohibits any new household advancement, but it does enable for the renovation, repair and substitute of the present buildings and the infrastructure that supports it.

“The property has to be used for an instructional purpose,” Ross claimed. “It truly is a fantastic space for ecological training.”

There ended up a good deal of inquiries about the assets from folks looking to farm the space or other uses that did not fulfill the demands, he reported.

“The EcoTarium’s been a very good steward of the property,” he said. “It’s a bought a variety of uplands and wetlands.”

The description claimed there “are fantastic trails throughout the house and it abuts 1000’s of acres of conserved land.”