NEW NORTH ARM MARINA AIMS FOR SUMMER OPENING
The Lower Mainland’s newest marina, Milltown Marina and Boatyard on the Fraser River’s North Arm, aims to be in full operation by early summer. Dredging and construction began late in 2012 at the Richmond Island site.
Milltown is the Lower Mainland’s first new marina in more than a decade, and that’s welcome news for boaters in this moorage-starved region. It will add 227 wet berths and about 200 dry-stack spaces to the local moorage inventory.
Capt. Mathew Cote, project development manager, expects the first tenants to be in wet berths by June 1, with full occupancy by the end of the summer. Other
facilities – a dry-stack storage building, waterfront pub-restaurant and marine service centre – will open about July 1.
The marina began taking space reservations more than a year ago and was flooded with inquiries from the start. “We’re busy working through our reservation lists now,” Cote explained in January. The dry-stack facility is a centrepiece of the project, said Cote. A popular storage option in other boating markets, it’s a relatively new concept here that could offer significant advantages for owners of boats up to about 28’. Boats are kept out of the weather and water, with no need for bottom paint or anodes, and unlimited free launch and retrieval is part of the moorage contract.
“It really maintains the value of the asset. I think ‘if you build it, they will come,” said Cote.
When complete, Milltown’s combined wet and dry spaces will make it among the Lower Mainland’s largest marinas.
To learn more visit: www.milltownmarina.ca
