Barbara Martocci

GUILD, Tenn. -- The future of Marion County's Camp on the Lake is uncertain now that TVA closed the site after the operator didn't renew her lease last month.

Operator Cindy Piper was required to move her operations off the property by Tuesday.

Ms. Piper said Monday the campground on state Highway 156 near the Guild exit on Interstate 24 was ready to turn over to TVA. She said she couldn't comment further.

TVA spokeswoman Barbara Martocci said the federal utility probably will leave the campground closed this season.

Ms. Martocci said Ms. Piper took over the contract in 2004 from the McCurrah family, which had operated it as Running Water Campground since 1990, she said.

"That lease, when originally signed, was for 19 years and it ended June 24," Ms. Martocci said.

Ms. Piper verbally notified TVA that she "did not want to operate the campground any further and did not want to renew the lease," Ms. Martocci said.

TVA is studying uses for the site, she said.

"We have made no decisions yet," she said. "We don't expect the campground to be open for the rest of the season as we determine what is next."

"We could make it a day-use area, we could keep it as a campground, we could partner with someone else who might want to work with us to make it either a campground or day-use area," she said. "It could be turned into a roadside park or it could remain closed."

Other nearby campgrounds have ample facilities for this season, she said.

Glenda Bean, at nearby Hale's Bar Marina & Resort, said the Camp on the Lake's closure immediately boosted her business.

Ms. Bean said 10 to 15 people inquired for space at Hale's Bar after the closure was announced. But it's also the height of the travel season and more people seem to be camping this year, she said.

"We're fuller than we've ever been," she said. "We're busier because people are not going so far away from home. They're taking more trips, but they're taking shorter ones. And they tend to be camping more because it's a lot more affordable."

Camp on the Lake could be booming if it was in operation, she said.

"It's a truly a beautiful place," she said. "There's a whole lot that could be done there."

BY THE NUMBERS

Camp on the Lake campground amenities:

54: Total camp sites

37: Tent sites

17: RV sites

12: Sites with water and electric hook-ups

1: Boat ramp

1: Bath house