JULY
27, 2000
Waterfront
to Open Docks for Pleasure Boaters
SHELDON
S. SHAFER - Courier-Journal
Additional
access may aid tourism along riverfront
A $440,000 docking system at the Waterfront Park harbor will be
completed tomorrow, in time for an evening Rockin' at Riverpoints
concert, Waterfront Development Corp. officials said.
For the first time, pleasure boats can tie to docks at the harbor to
watch riverfront events. There will be room to park at least 30 boats,
plus reserved spaces for three county police river-patrol vessels, a
waterfront agency maintenance boat and a parasailing craft that has
riverfront rights, said Mike Kimmel, the waterfront agency's deputy
director.
``We're opening up (the harbor) for everyone to come down,'' Kimmel
said. ``For the first time, boaters will be able to dock in a protected
body of water and enjoy the park.''
George East, a member of the Louisville Boat Club, said it's ``an
absolute shame that boaters have not been able to use'' the Waterfront
Park harbor. Being able to dock at the harbor should help promote
tourism, he said, as boaters will stop to use the park and to eat at
restaurants on the wharf.
Space at the dock is on a first-come basis, Kimmel said. Riverfront
officials had considered allowing boats to tie up only during major
waterfront events, but Kimmel said they have decided to see if the
docking system will work without any major restrictions.
When it approved a permit for Waterfront Park's development five years
ago, the Army Corps of Engineers prohibited pleasure boats from docking
at the park, fearing they might interfere with commercial river traffic
that lines up along the Kentucky shore to enter the McAlpine Locks.
But in May the corps agreed to let pleasure craft dock at the Waterfront
Park harbor, after the waterfront agency agreed, among other things, to
post additional warnings in the river to direct pleasure boats away from
the commercial channel.
For the past few weeks, pleasure boats have been able to tie up at the
downtown wharf, near the Clark Memorial Bridge. The waterfront agency
recently installed a series of fenders, or cushions, in that area so the
boats won't ram the concrete wharf wall.
The separate harbor docking system just upriver from Joe's Crab Shack
includes 10 pilings and seven piers, with aluminum ramps, concrete
walking surfaces and floatation devices with wood railings. The system
will rise and fall with the water level and be used yearround.
Money for the project came from the $60 million budget for the first
phase of Waterfront Park - a mix of public and private money, Kimmel
said.
Blaine Weddington worked on the new docks at Waterfront Park. They will
be open to pleasure boaters beginning tomorrow.
John Nash put finishing touches on the docks. ``We're opening up (the
harbor) for everyone,'' said Mike Kimmel of the waterfront agency.