La Crosse is ready to ask consultant to continue study of boat docking

For the big paddlewheelers and the small family motorboats, La Crosse wants to be more river friendly.

Plans to hire a boat docking consultant are being sent to the full city council for a vote next week.

Mayor Tim Kabat said a new docking area would have to be more durable than a previous docking facility used on the levee.

“There was a small facility at Riverside Park, but it wasn’t able to withstand the pounding and the difficult currents and everything there,” Kabat said.

The park department says one owner of the big cruise boats has plans to quadruple its stops in the area.

The proposed consulting firm, SmithGroup JJR, has already done the first phase of a docking plan.

SmithGroup would be paid $190,000 to conduct the new phase of the study.