Bolton Equine Center Buys Camp Virginia Property
Bolton resident’s, Dr. Amy Clark and Dr. Brett Gaby, and their newly formed business, Bolton Equine Center, are the excited new owners of the former Girl Scout Camp, known as Camp Virginia. The property located on Rt 85 in Bolton, MA went on the market about two years ago when the Girl Scouts decided to no longer make use of the camp. Essex Equine Inc., an equine ambulatory veterinary practice specializing in sport horse medicine located on Sampson Road in Bolton, also owned by Dr. Clark and Dr. Gaby, will continue to run under its current name and rent space from Bolton Equine Center.
I had the pleasure of meeting with Amy and her husband, Brett, to learn more about their business and their plans for the property.
Dr. Brett Gaby graduated from Cornell University in 1992. In 1994 he moved to Dublin Ireland to study veterinary sciences at the University College Dublin. After returning to the United States, Dr. Gaby attended the Mississippi State College of Veterinary Medicine and graduated in 1999. He completed an internship at the Rochester Equine Clinic and was then employed by Boston Equine Associates in Rehoboth, MA for nearly four years before starting his own practice in Littleton, MA before eventually settling in Bolton, in 2003.
Dr Amy Clark graduated with her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree in 2005 from Atlantic Veterinary College in Prince Edward Island Canada. Amy is a native of New Brunswick Canada and began her career with Essex Equine after graduating. It was there she met Dr Brett Gaby, the two are now married with two children.
Over the years, the Essex Equine business has grown from two to five veterinarians, in addition to hiring veterinarian assistants, support staff, and caretakers, and therefore the need to expand. When the Camp Virginia property became available, Brett and Amy knew purchasing it would be the perfect opportunity to both expand their business and give them and their children plenty of acreage to ride their own horses and build their own personal residence.
Amy and Brett have hired King Barns out of Pennsylvania, who design and build fine custom horse barns, to build their barn, arenas, and outbuildings. They also hope to restore and reuse the buildings that once housed the Girl Scout Camp.
Bolton Equine Center made use of Bolton’s Agricultural/Business Use Special Permit to be able to utilize this amazing property, for their large animal veterinary services, breeding, raising and training of horses, and the construction of their new barn with attached office. This bylaw allows Agricultural Businesses the ability to utilize property in the residential zone, since Bolton is a right to farm community, and has no specific agricultural zone.
The Bolton Economic Development Committee wants to thank Dr Brett Gaby and
Dr Amy Clark for capitalizing on their vision for this special property and for creating a valuable asset to the residents of Bolton and beyond!
