[Descant]

Look at the change in lifestyles. In the 50's a lot of lakeside motels were built and these fueled a lot of small restaurants and other family businesses. Nobody owned their own boat. By the 80's these motels and restaurants, with huge numbers of summer jobs, were no longer viable, so they went condo and everybody has their own boat.
So, if you are still defining the Weirs as a few hundred yards from the sign on Rt. 3 to the old Grange Hall, what do you have? Small lots, no parking and long walks pushing strollers and pulling kids. Today's businesses need large flat lots with lots of parking, or public transportation of sorts. Compare the present Funspot with their starting location on the second floor of Tarlson's Arcade building. Small operation, no parking grown to "world's largest" with lots of parking.

I agree that docks should be removed to improve accessibility, and that's cheap. A dock master would be a huge asset on busy days.

After that, redefine the Weirs as an area from McIntire Circle (that's really Gilford) north to the Meredith line, or maybe up to Funspot. There are some larger plots that could be developed if they needed a little less parking. Remember the double decker bus that Funspot ran at its own expense? A similar bus (or Molly the Trolley as in Wolfeboro) could run a circuit going up Rt 3, up and back past the train station, maybe to AKWA Marine (there's some new development $$ for the naysayers BTW) and up to the Winnipesaukee Museum, or Funspot. A couple of these on summer days so I could get a ride every ½ hour or so would be perfect.

Now I could come by boat and easily get to these remote sites, my kids could ride from my condo on Paugus Bay up to the beach or to some new attraction and the traffic would be much easier to deal with. The drive-in used to have benches down front and you could come by boat and walk in for a quarter. Everything could be attended by my kids with their baby-sitter or elder sibling.

Whether it’s a resort hotel or some other attraction, cheap, fun transportation is key. Think of how spread out Disney World is. They've made the bus, the boats, the train and the monorail part of the attraction, and you rarely think of the time and distance between parking or your hotel and the actual destination.

Summary: Redefine "the Weirs" and add great transportation.