Glen Echo Park, Ontario

{{Short description|Naturist club in King, Ontario, Canada}}

Glen Echo Park was a naturist club opened in 1955 by Marie and Eddie Todorowsky in King, Ontario.[https://web.archive.org/web/20121104163537/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/thestar/access/498180841.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Apr+08,+1997&author=Christine+Samuelian&pub=Waterloo+Region+Record&desc=Seniors+shed+shyness+along+with+clothes&pqatl=google "Seniors Shed Shyness Along With Clothes"], Kitchener Record, April 8, 1997 (pay site). When it closed in 2009, it was the oldest nudist camp in Ontario.Robyn Doolittle, [https://www.thestar.com/article/221188 "Interest sags in nude retreats"], Toronto Star, June 4, 2007. The camp featured a children’s swimming pool, a playground, a five-unit motel and a shower area. In 1974, a {{convert|10000|sqft|m2|adj=on}} clubhouse was constructed for complete year-round use.

In April 2009, after years of trying to sell the camp to nudists, the owners sold the property; in August 2009, it was announced that the camp would close down in October 2009 as it was bought by a private buyer for personal use.Robyn Doolittle, [https://www.thestar.com/article/687687 "Nudists are losing a place to hang out"], Toronto Star, August 28, 2009.{{cite news |last1=Peats |first1=Don |archive-date=30 August 2009 |title=Nudists stripped of their homes |url=http://www.torontosun.com/news/torontoandgta/2009/08/29/10661786-sun.html |work=Toronto Star |date=29 August 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090830191314/http://www.torontosun.com/news/torontoandgta/2009/08/29/10661786-sun.html}}

The announcement that the club would close effective October 1, 2009 only gave members about a month's notice.{{cite letter|title=Letter to members|recipient=Members of Glen Echo Park |date=August 21, 2009}} The news of the sale and closure came as a surprise to the membership because they had been given repeated assurances that the park would be sold to someone who would maintain it as a nudist club.{{cite news|title=The Sale of Glen Echo Park|newspaper=The Echo|date=Spring 2005}}{{cite letter|title=Letter to members|recipient=Members of Glen Echo Park|date=December 1, 2005}} Because some had significant investments in elaborate cabins that could not easily be moved, many members felt betrayed.

Members fought to keep the park open.[http://www.canadaeast.com/front/article/805632 "Nudists to appear at hearings to fight for homes in southwestern Ont. park"], Canadian Press in Canadaeast.com (Brunswick News), September 28th, 2009. A September 2009 Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) ruling gave the members an additional year before they would be required to vacate.Ian Robertson,[http://www.torontosun.com/news/torontoandgta/2009/09/29/11184681.html "Nudists covered for a year"], Toronto Sun, September 29, 2009. This ruling was subsequently overturned when the LTB ruled the act did not apply.LTB Member Berkowitz's orders of Jan 2010 and Jan 2011