Moving Brudenell Marina will allow for expansion of facilities, says general manager
The Brudenell Marina is looking to move to a new site for the next boating season.
The Montague Waterfront Development Corporation, the group that manages the marina, applied to have the facility moved about 470 metres east of the current site.
The marina would move from its current location on the Rodd Brudenell River Resort property, to a site at the bottom of Brudenell Island Boulevard.
"At the new site, we are going to be able to build our own building with washrooms, showers, laundry facilities for our boaters," said Tom Donahoe, general manager of the Montague Waterfront and Brudenell Marina.
"We will be on our own power and water supply. We'll have better parking and previously our staff had to spend eight hours on a floating dock out in the marina. Here, we are going to have a proper office for them."
Donahoe said they have been looking to expand for a number of years, but there was limited room to grow.
Expanding facilities
The current marina had space for 20 slips, five of them for visitors. Donahoe said last year there were more than 15 people on the wait-list for a spot.
He said he expects that the new site would be able to accommodate more boats. Donahoe said with the new amenities, they may raise rates to bring a bit more profit into the organization.
"The province is quite supportive of tourism, which is part of tourism having the marina there," said Reid Lea, on the board of directors of the Montague Waterfront Development Corporation.
"We have a lot of visitors who come from all over southern states and Atlantic and Central Canada."
Lea has parked his own boat at the site for the past three years and said he uses the marina quite often.
"With the move, we are going to be able to have washroom facilities, laundromat — much closer to the park too, where a lot of the people that might be camping and take the boat with them would be able to get more use out of it," Lea said.
The cost of the project is estimated to be around $60,000. Funding will come through the province and the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency.
Donahoe said they plan to have the marina moved before the start of the 2020 boating season.
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