New Marina to Fill Need on Lake Champlain in Vermont

Five years after purchasing a waterfront property on St. Albans Bay in Vermont, and 18 months after they began applying for permits, local business owners Chuck Lowe and Rene Boissoneault have started work on a new marina that will bring much-needed slips to this bay off Lake Champlain.

Work on the 154-slip St. Alban’s Bay marina began this summer with construction of the parking lot and renovation of a former residence/small restaurant on the property. With the final permit approved in September, Lowe expected that installation of the docks would begin early this fall. The docks, steel frames with wooden decking, will be built and installed by a Vermont company, Dock Doctors.

“Each slip will have electricity, water and free Wi-Fi, and there will be a pump-out facility and gasoline and diesel fuel available on the service dock,” Lowe said. “This will be the first marina permitted on Lake Champlain on the Vermont side in 30 years. The current slip availability is virtually none; all of the marinas are at capacity, and there is a real need for more. There isn’t another marina within 10 miles, no gasoline or diesel fuel.”

The renovated residence building will house a small ships’ store, handicapped accessible bathrooms with showers and a small gathering/meeting room. Lowe said there is also restaurant and a small store within close proximity to the marina.

Ten of the slips in the St. Albans Marina will be reserved for transient boaters. Lowe expects to attract boaters not only from nearby New York State but also from Montreal, Canada. The remaining 144 slips will be available for seasonal leaseholders from May 1 to October 1. “We have rented slips already and are expecting 100 percent capacity,” Lowe said.

The marina plans to celebrate its grand opening on May 1, 2018. “It’s exciting for us, and it’s exciting for the community as well,” Lowe said. “This area has not been utilized as it should be, and I think this will be the start of revitalization in this area.”