Six Years of Renovations Nearing Completion at Port of Everett

The Port of Everett Marina in Washington state is the largest marina on the West Coast, with 2,300 slips divided among its North, South and Central basins. Next spring, the port will be finishing up a multi-year, large-scale renovation project that has transformed its Central Basin in conjunction with development along the waterfront in this area.

As the oldest section of the facility, the Central Marina needed an update. “The facility was built in the 1960s and has grown over time. With 50 years of infrastructure to maintain, “We time our infrastructure investment strategically so we keep our facilities up to snuff,” said Catherine Soper, public affairs specialist for the Port of Everett.

The Central Basin project had four phases.

Phase 1 work started in 2014 with the environmental cleanup of the former industrial area. The work included the demolition and removal of aging marine infrastructure including an old marine railway, several docks and hundreds of creosote piling. “We also dredged more than 10,000 cubic yards of contaminated sediment,” Soper said. During this $10 million, two-year phase, contractors realigned other Central Basin docks and improved public access to the area.

In Phase 2, which took place between 2015 and 2016, the Port of Everett demolished the I dock, O dock and a portion of P dock and then reconstructed I dock with upgraded utilities and services. It also realigned some of the privately-owned boathouses. This phase cost $6.5 million.

Phase 3, which cost $8.8 million and was completed in 2019, included the construction of 810 lineal feet of side-tie moorage for guest dockage, construction of the new K dock with 70-foot slips for yacht-class vessels (including yacht brokerage), construction of an L dock for the commercial fishing fleet, and dredging of the eastern portion of the Central Marina. The port also added a large activity barge that can be rented for public and private events.

Phase 4, the last part of the project, will cost $4.7 million. It started in the fall

of 2019 and should be completed in the spring of 2020. “That will include demolishing and removing all of the boathouses owned by the port, and the consolidation of all private boathouses to the east sides of Central G and I docks,” Soper said. The removal of the boathouses from the west side of G dock will free up another 500 lineal feet of new side-tie moorage.

Bellingham Marine is manufacturing the new concrete floating docks for Phase 4, and American Construction is handling the dredging and dock reconstruction work.
All of these renovations and upgrades have been done in conjunction with Waterfront Place Development, which is being built on 65 upland acres in the area surrounding the Central Marina. “We are now having housing on the waterfront for the first time in the history of Everett,” Soper said.

Groundbreaking for the two-building, 66-unit apartment complex took place in October 2019. Waterfront Place already includes the Hotel Indigo and a restaurant, and more restaurants are planned.

“We also have a four-mile continuous waterfront trail system that connects all three marina basins, as well as new public access features surrounding the marina for boaters and visitors to enjoy,” added Soper. “We want to make sure that our marina facilities and our upland development is tying together, making it a destination waterfront.”

Although the Port of Everett doesn’t have plans for any other large-scale renovations once the work on the Central Marina is complete, it will be continuing its ongoing maintenance program. In addition, the port will be looking for ways to adjust its slip size to meet boaters’ changing demands. Soper noted that many owners of smaller boats under 35 feet now store them upland or bring them in using trailers rather than renting slips.

“The 35-foot to 70-foot range is really the sweet spot here. As we continue to recapitalize our facilities, the goal is to make the best use of our docks to accommodate boats in this size range,” Soper said. That may mean more side-tie moorage in the future. “We continue to see vacancies and underuse of our smaller slip sizes for boats, so adding flexible side-tie moorage allows us to make better use of our dock space while continuing to accommodate the various size vessels.”

Even if some slips are enlarged, the overall number of boats that the marina can serve should still be around 2,300 with the side-ties, Soper added.