Images for the proposed marina redesign were displayed during Tuesday’s town council meeting.
The eight 3-D color panoramic renderings, designed by JoeKarlik ofLocust Grove Studios in Kennedyville, are based on the architectural drawings submitted to the town by McCrone Engineers Co. The architectural drawings included features gleaned from the three public charrettes held in 2014.
The images will be used as visual tools in Mayor Cerino’s fundraising effort for the marina redesign.
“Probably the most productive meeting we’ve had recently was with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. They have a lot of grant opportunities, basically for economic development programs in rural areas,” Cerino said.
It is important to realize that these renderings depict design possibilities and should not be considered finalized versions of the marina’s renovation plan.
PDF of images available here.Chestertown Marina
Joe Diamond says
This looks pretty good,
Annapolis would love to have such a facility.
My thought would be to discard the term marina. It implies a place for boats. The interest to the area is as a destination for all kinds of activities. Evening outdoor concerts, small boat rentals, a swimming pool, more food venues, cheap easy public transportation in land, river and Bay cruises and the others I am not thinking of would get the seasonal cash flowing.
From this the boat industry stuff could follow. Fuel & pump out facilities would be necessary for the boaters but (my opinion) would require much more management than the other activities. Maybe let them fuel and pump out at Kent Island?
If there was just a source for seafood!
Joe
Robin Faitoute says
Did I hear someone say seafood? As in local, waterside seafood market– like Annapolis used to have before they lost sight of things?
Steve Payne says
Nice!
Frank Gerber says
I’d hate to see the neighborhood marina get lost in all of this.
joe diamond says
Frank,
That is the way it seems to happen. Early on waterfront property owners try to make a few bucks by letting boaters launch. Some build piers for access to the deep water for their (or others) large, deep draft boats. At some point there are parking issues as more and more boaters use the pier. As waterfront homeowners become small local marinas they discover just how dirty and dangerous a marina is….and how expensive to operate.
Then you get into the question of how many people will use the local neighborhood marina. A public boat launch (Kent & QA have several) is not the same thing. I am am afraid that as the publicly owned waterfront expands the boaters will be moved away from the public venue. So you end up with a situation where the local government is expending your funds to attract visitors and making you trailer your boat elsewhere to get in the water. The money is in getting visiting boaters to come ashore and spend….not allowing locals to tie up their boats.
Joe
Stuart Godwin says
It would really be nice if there were some way to lift the risk involved by selling shares in the enterprise, with the town taking, say, 25% of the shares, and the public buying the rest, and ALL revenue from the marina going to retire the debt until it was paid off. If the town (actually the citizens of the town) are taking the financial risk, then they should reap most of the reward.
Nancy Henderson says
This is pretty as a venue, a park and an artsy location. The Marina aspect seems really lost in the shuffle. A real marina needs fuel, pump out, a chandlery and repair facilities as well as on land boat storage. I would love to have my boat as close as this proposed marina but it does not meet my needs. What a shame.
joe diamond says
You could lead the charge! There are (my opinion) at least two kinds of real marinas. One caters to the power boat community while the other serves those with sail power. Their two worlds overlap in several areas but eventually their differences become more apparent. Commercial craft really are on a different planet as are racing craft. So you get to define which boats will mix with the planned riverfront endeavor.
Then there is the issue of anchorage, channels & boating above the bridge, speed & wake control……..
Frank Gerber says
My thoughts too.
Andrew McCown says
The town and the waterfront are not the same as they were fifty years ago when the marina was full and active with local boats: waterman, weekend crabbers, sailboats, cabin cruisers, etc. Looking at renderings of the Chestertown Marina of the future with no travel lift, no out of water winter storage, no place to do “boat work”, no boat shed, and boats in slips that look like they came from Miami, is just difficult. I’m not saying the renderings don’t look good, just that they make Chestertown’s waterfront look functionally very different.
It changes our history, not having a working Marina in our waterfront town. It seems odd.