A final decision on who will operate the Lake District’s visitor centre Brockhole will be taken over the next few months.
The chief executive of the Lake District National Park Authority Gavin Capstick said two bids were being considered following a marketing campaign earlier this year.
The authority said it could no longer afford to run the lakeside attraction.
Speaking to our Northern Lights podcast, Mr Capstick praised staff at the visitor centre for their commitment during a period of uncertainty over Brockhole’s future.
He said: “I’m a father of three and we’ve spent a good part of the last decade outside of my working hours at Brockhole – it really is a special place.
“They’ve done a really good job across the course of this season in quite difficult circumstances.
“We’ve made some changes in terms of the way they operate the site which we were forced to do from a cost control point of view at the start of the year and that’s been really difficult for the staff on the ground.”
A long leasehold for a third party operator was advertised earlier this year after the park authority was warned the 30-acre historic property which has been run as a not for profit attraction by the authority was forecast to make a significant loss.
Mr Capstick added: “The intent of that leasehold is still that there’ll be public access and people can go and enjoy those grounds and get access to the lake.
“We’ve narrowed it down to a couple of options and are in final discussions.”
Brockhole was bought by the Lake District National Park Authority in 1966 and opened in 1969 as the UK’s first national park visitor centre.
