Yellowknife (May 17/06) - The Pilote Point Lodge will have new owners and a new name as of June.

New owners Gordon and Kathy Gin will take over ownership of the lodge on June 1. It will be officially renamed Yellow Dog Lodge at Pilote Point.

Pilote Point Lodge has been purchased and renamed Yellow Dog Lodge at Pilote Point. It had been for sale since March 2004. - photo courtesy of Pilote Pointe Lodge

"It's basically been a dream of mine," Gordon. "My passion has grown into a business."

The wife and husband team plan to open the Yellow Dog Lodge for six summer months, but will close during the winter season initially.

"My target is to open in the winter for six weeks in 2008," he said.

"Right now, my focus is to get the client base up."

Forty people are booked into the lodge for this summer. He said he would like to have between 80 to 100 clients go through the lodge by the end of this year.

Pilote Point Lodge went on sale in March of 2004. Former owners Colleen Chartrand and Serge Pilote said in 2004 the decision to sell the was more influenced by personal reasons than by business.

"We want to be closer to our family, our children and grandchildren," said Chartrand.

While the final price was not disclosed in 2004, Chartrand and Pilote were asking $700,000 for the lodge.

There will be a staff of three working at the camp this summer consisting of the Gins as well as their nephew from Saskatchewan. The new owners currently live in Denver, Colorado, and plan to market Yellow Dog Lodge in the U.S.

"We're looking on doing a number of trade shows. We already attended one in Salt Lake City, (Utah)," said Kathy Gin.

"We'd like to get more families up to the lodge."

A number of flights have been booked with Air Tindi to fly in customers. Kathy Gin said she hopes to get in a rotation of pick up and drop offs with the airline.

The Yellow Dog Lodge at Pilote Point should be open for bookings by mid-June.