Boldt to get castle competition

DARK ISLAND - Tourists to the Thousand Islands will now have a castle other than Boldt to visit as Singer Castle opens to the public Aug. 2.

Dark Island Tours, Inc. purchased the seven-acre island last year from the Harold Martin Evangelistic Association for $1.7 million' Dark Island Tours is

Dark Island Tours has spent nearly $1 million preparing the former hunting lodge and religious retreat for public tours and private events, says Deborah Lack, vice president of operations and marketing for Singer Castle. The castle can host 100 visitors per hour, she adds. Tickets for the guided tour cost $10 per adult and $6 per child. Both the Empire and Uncle Sam's tour-boat lines offer stops at the castle. Private craft may also dock at the island's southern boathouse. The boathouse serves as the entryway and gift shop for the island. Approximately 50 employees provide tours and perform maintenance on the island.

The tour includes most of the castle's 28 rooms on three floors. A guide takes visitors through the furnished rooms from wine cellar to roof garden. The castle also features a dungeon built into one of its turrets as well as several secret pas sages. Dark Island Tours has covered the secret passages with Lexan, a form of plastic glass that allows visitors to see the passages without creating a hazard, Lack says. There are several outbuildings linked by tunnel to the castle, including a clock tower and boathouses. The island's north boathouse was built to house Frederick G. Bourne's, the original owner's, I 100foot steam yacht.

"The north boathouse could be a tourist attraction all by itself," says Lack.

In addition to its tours, Singer Castle is available for private events. The company is finalizing its prices for events such as weddings or banquets. Companies or individuals seeking a unique event setting can rent the entire island, says Lack.

Singer Sewing Machine executive Bourne commissioned the castle in 1896. Originally known as "The Towers," it took eight years and $500,000 to build. Famed architect Ernest Flagg designed in the 28room structure based on the descriptions found in Sir Walter Scott's 1826 novel, "Woodstock." Flagg had read the novel and wanted to bring the pages to life for Bourne, Lack explains. The castle builders used granite from Oak Island, as did the builders of Boldt Castle. Flagg later designed the Singer Company's New York headquarters.

Like George Boldt, Bourne brought his Manhattan wealth to the St. Lawrence River in the 1890s, however unlike Boldt, Bourne completed his castle and continued to use the property well into the 20th century.

"Singer Castle is a finished castle, and it's been lived in for nearly a century," says Lack. "We're going to offer visitors a different perspective on river life of the early 1900s."

Bourne left his hunting lodge to the LaSalle Military Academy which sold it to the Harold Martin Evangelistic Association in 1965. Martin changed the name of the island and castle to Jorstadt, his original family name. The Harold Martin Evangelistic Association used the property as a residence and religious retreat. Martin hosted weekly religious services on the island's 'chapel for the next 30 years. Martin's son, Wycliffe, continued the services after his father was unable to visit the island in the late 1990s. Martin died in 1999, and the association placed the property up for sale. Until 2002, when Dark Island Tours bought the property, the island appeared in several publications that advertise high-end properties.