By Kolby LaMarche

The Winooski Valley Park District has purchased the longtime Charlie’s Boathouse property in Burlington’s New North End, securing the waterfront site for conservation and eventual public use.

The 2.7-acre parcel at the end of North Avenue, also known as the Auer Family Boathouse, sold for $960,000. The transaction closed earlier this week. The Lake Champlain Land Trust partnered in the announcement of the acquisition.

For more than 90 years the property operated as a seasonal bait shop, snack bar and boat rental business. Charlie Auer Jr. and his sister, Christine Auer Hebert, ran the operation for decades after their father, Charlie Auer Sr., built the red clapboard boathouse in the late 1920s. Locals knew the place simply as Charlie’s Boathouse.

Cyclists on the Burlington bike path often stopped for a Charlieburger, bait or a view of Lake Champlain and the mouth of the Winooski River.

Charlie Auer Jr. died in 2021. Christine Auer Hebert died in 2024. The families listed the property for sale last fall with an asking price of $2.5 million, noting its potential for private development despite its flood-prone location. 

Nick Warner, executive director of the Winooski Valley Park District, said the acquisition includes more than the land itself. “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,” Warner said. 

The property sits between Lake Champlain and the Burlington bike path. It expands the district’s holdings in northern Burlington and neighboring Colchester, adding to nearby sites that include Delta Park, Derway Island Nature Preserve and Mayes Landing.

District officials plan to preserve the site’s ecological value while opening it for public recreation. Possible uses include fishing, picnicking, birdwatching and a boat launch. 

Final decisions will follow community input. The historic boathouse building will be evaluated with a structural engineer and historic buildings consultant; no decision has been made on its long-term role.

The site remains closed to the public for now. Warner said the district’s priority is to open it safely, with a possible spring timeline once assessments and basic preparations are complete.