Wisconsin Marina Being Reconstructed on Shortened Schedule

Built in 1963, Abbey Marina on Fontana-on Geneva Lake, Wisconsin, has been a dockominium since 1994. One large owner, however, owns 34 percent of the slips and makes them available for seasonal rentals and transient boaters.
The slip owners began investigating the possibility of replacing the existing floating wooden docks back in 2007. “That gave us a baseline on what costs would be, and how much we needed to do it,” said Ed Smith, harbormaster. “We’ve been saving money ever since, but about 18 months ago we got to the point where we said we need to make a decision on whether or not we were going to do it.”

The owners voted overwhelmingly to go ahead with the project. While the original plans had been for renovating the marina over a five-year period, Smith said they eventually consolidated that down to a three-year schedule. “Then the general contractor came in towards the end of the planning and said they could get it done in a year.”

The marina closed on October 1, 2017—a month earlier than normal—and will reopen by May 1 of next year. The project includes replacement of 4,100 linear feet of sidewalk, replacement of sheet piling around two-thirds of the harbor and replacement of many of the old timber creosote-dip pilings. “We tested all of the pilings; some were solid as a rock, but some were starting to fail,” said Smith.

Maricorp U.S. is building and installing the new steel-frame docks, which feature concrete tile decking. “One of the biggest changes will be that we don’t have to worry about getting slivers anymore,” said Smith. Marina Electrical is installing the new dock pedestals and Trionic is doing all the dock boxes. Merryman Excavation, the general contractor, did the sheet wall and utilities work.

As of late December, all the perimeter utilities had been installed, the sheet piling was complete and about 40 percent of the new docks were in place. “We’re hoping to have all the docks in by mid-March,” said Smith.

The marina already has a main clubhouse with bathrooms, showers, boat bar and attached pool. It will be adding a gazebo with two additional bathrooms along the docks in the center of the harbor as well. In addition, the fuel dock and the pump out area will get new piping.