Marquette boaters upset with delay in boating season

The Cinder Pond Marina office building is set to be demolished and rebuilt due to this winter’s extreme weather.

ABC 10’s Danielle Davis reports that while the Marina will not open until May first, it will open at some point and with limited facilities.

Mother nature wreaked havoc this winter at Cinder Pond Marina and now the office building is structurally damaged and unsafe. The building shifted leaving the foundation weak and with cracks, giving engineers no choice but to recommend demolition. The Harbor Advisory Committee held a special meeting to inform seasonal slip holders and the public about the safety concerns and delay in opening.

“Getting some timelines down, looking at what type of resources we have to get as many temporary facilities in place as we can.  Temporary bathrooms, so our seasonal slip holders and transients boaters have the facilities we normally provide to them at least on a temporary basis,” said Bob Frazee, Harbor Advisory Committee Chair.

The committee says they are working diligently to resolve funding, temporary bathrooms and shower structure to start building the interim facility as soon as possible. Unhappy boaters listened patiently and are hoping the strategy presented will work.

“I think it is a good plan providing they do what they say they are going to do. I was happy with the meeting, everything was understandable. It’s going to inconvenience everyone because the summers are so short, we only get about 3 months of good boating anyway so it’s going to be tough but we’ll make it,” said Dan Brassard, Marquette Resident.

If there is a silver lining, the rebuild will present an opportunity to build a better Marina.

“It’s also a very good opportunity to look back as to what we didn’t like about our past facility, what did and didn’t work and move forward and build the right facility and not just something because it’s quick to construct.”

Seasonal slip holders fees will be prorated and if all goes according to the proposal the temporary facilities will be up and running June first.

If for some reason the plans fall apart the smaller boats can launch at Presque Isle, but unfortunately that Marina isn’t big enough to handle the larger boats.