Cost for harbor renovation now over $2 million

That $1.8 million renovation project at the La Crosse municipal boat harbor has turned into something more like a $2 million renovation project.

A city council committee tonight will consider a plan to reallocate money from some other projects to come up with another $254,769 for the harbor.

The new docks are nice, says big houseboat owner Dennis Smalley, but the harbor will be pretty bare bones without a gas dock and other amenities that other harbors in the area have.

“They have gas. They have a store. They sell ice. They have a laundry. They have showers. They have bathrooms,” Smalley said. “We’re going to have porta-potties.

“Just go to the other marinas in La Crosse and see what they have. They’ll have that kind of stuff.’

Along with that, Smalley wonders if there will be a service to pull boats out and put them back in again.

“We need somebody down there that can, especially do an emergency pull on a bigger boat if you’re sinking,” he said. “That does happen.”

The additional cost is getting blamed on expenses related to demolition and a required fire suppression system at the harbor.

Harbor renovations began last fall. Much of the work on the new docks was done while the harbor was still frozen over.