New marina being built on Lake Champlain

The City of Plattsburgh began construction on the city’s marina facility Wednesday, March 25 and continues to build the docks in an attempt to bring more attention to the community.

“We want to try to infuse some economic development to our downtown, whether it’s sending people to Irises, Himalaya

[Restaurant], Blue Collar Bistro or any of those places that aren’t that far away,” said Steve Peters, superintendant of recreation for the City of Plattsburgh, ”or people renting bikes, that way they can explore what we have, start generating that additional attention. Once we have more visitors to our downtown area, we have more events going on, and that generates more business and helps everyone economically.”

The City of Plattsburgh Common Council approved a contract, the final piece of the operation, March 19 with the Neagley & Chase Construction Company, LLC, for $301,700 to renovate the city’s marina facility.

“Our focus right now is really just getting it open and ensuring we’re providing a world-class product,” Peters said. “That’s our goal.”

The Neagley & Chase Construction Company hopes to complete the building around May 1 and transform it into a Welcome Center, which will contain offices, showers, restrooms, a lounge area, laundry facilities and a front desk where people can register for their slips. Eventually they would like to incorporate bike or kayak rentals to include with the new marina.

“This is designed around these non-trailerable sailboats that in order to get where they’re going, they have to use water,” Peters explained. “There’s hundreds of those types of boats on the lake.”

The City of Plattsburgh will be completing construction of a 34-slip/25-mooring marina at Dock Street Landing by mid-May when boats are expected to arrive. Installation will start when the ice melts.

“The only reasonable use of that waterfront we have in that specific location is a marina,” Peters said. “There just isn’t anything else we can do with that property.”