Bentley's Campground expansion: Owner has big plans for this summer Maine getaway

ARUNDEL, Maine — When loyal campers return to Bentley’s Campground this summer, they will see as many as eight to ten new sites, all of them ready to accommodate the latest shapes and sizes of recreational vehicles.

During a recent interview, Bentley Warren, the renown race car driver and owner of the campground, offered a glimpse of what campers can expect.

“It’s going to be first-class: comfortable, with good services, and a clean environment,” Warren said.

Expect more new sites in the years ahead, as Warren and his Massachusetts-based construction company continue an expansion that for them has been years in the making. Bentley said he had secured permitting for his project years ago but experienced a setback in 2020, when new federal restrictions and requirements created hurdles.

“I had it all in place,” Warren said of those days before the current administration in Washington.

According to Warren, the setback has incurred its share of expenses. However, he said he has nothing but praise for the local and state levels of government as both have worked with him on his permitting and compliance with federal guidelines.

“The town has been nothing but fantastic in working with us,” Warren said. “The local level is fantastic. The state level is fantastic. Maine is great for expansions within the law. They work quite well with us.”

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Campground in 'stumbling distance' to Bentley's Saloon

The campground is located behind Bentley’s Saloon, the popular bar and grill on Portland Road that has attracted everyone from bikers to the Bushes since Warren purchased the place in 2007. The website for the campground jokes that the campground is within “stumbling distance” of the saloon.

Warren purchased the saloon and campground five years before retiring from racing cars, according to the Eastern Motor Sports Press Association. Warren started racing cars at the age of 14 and won several races and championships throughout his career. When he started a trucking company in Massachusetts in 1971, he used earnings from his Indy 500 victories to finance the enterprise. Warren chronicles his adventures behind the wheel and in the fast lane in his 2013 memoir, "Wicked Fast."

Warren said he has had a vision of a neighboring saloon and campground ever since he saw a similar business down in Florida. Expanding the campground is part of that vision.

Warren said he is personally financing the expansion out of his own pocket – an approach made possible by the construction company he owns.

“I’ve got some great people working for me and with me,” he said.

Given the self-financing – and the need to continue squaring away permitting anew – Warren said he is pursuing the expansion as circumstances and resources allow.

“We’re doing it as we can,” he said. “Some things are cost-prohibitive, so we have to slow down a bit. You know how it goes – you want a steak dinner, but you’re going to have to have hamburgers tonight.”

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New campground sites will be ready for 2023 season

According to Warren, crews currently are working on the infrastructure of the new sites, getting the plumbing, electricity and water in place, Warren said.

The campground will reopen for the season at some point in April – it will depend on the weather, Warren said.

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The Arundel Planning Board recently discussed the latest traffic study associated with the campground. As the applicant, Warren is required to provide the town with updated traffic studies every three years as the expansion proceeds at its own pace.

Warren said he does not know how many new campsites will have been created, once the expansion is complete at some point in the years ahead. The size of each new campsite is the primary focus, he said.

“Campers are now bigger and longer and have slide-outs,” he said. “Some of them are like a house.”

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Bentley's Campground in Maine: Owner has big expansion plans this summer