Laurel Marina Is Expanding To Meet Boater’s Needs

BRISTOL, Tenn. – Dale Thomas estimates the 392 new boat slips he plans to install at Laurel Marina will bring $50 million to $75 million worth of new investment to South Holston Lake.

Thomas said the first phase of the project – consisting of 55 new slips and a parking lot – should be ready by mid-May.

He’s already invested $3 million in the expansion and spent the past six years trying to get the project going. It took five years just to get approval for the project from the Tennessee Valley Authority, the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

During that time, Thomas had to significantly revise his proposal so it would not affect public lands and to deal with concerns the expansion would threaten the lake’s ecosystem and the shoreline’s aesthetics.

The final permit was approved in February 2007 but Thomas had to wait until December to start the project because lake levels were too high.

The project’s first step was to build a 150-space parking lot with 75,000 cubic yards of earth from the lake bottom.

Thomas said the strategy, as opposed to bringing dirt from another location, would not affect the lake’s volume for flood control or power generation.

It also saved him from building a parking garage on a patch of soft ground that was visible from the shore.

In March, Thomas started building the actual boat slips for his expansion’s first phase.

The 55 new boat slips will feature 22 open slips, 16 covered boat slips and space for six stationary boat houses with their own utility connections.

The project also features space for 11 houseboats, which can stretch as long as 90 to 100 feet.

Thomas has seen an increase in demand for houseboats and a place to dock them because people are beginning to invest their retirement savings in the luxury crafts, which can cost from $500,000 to $1 million, rather than real estate.

"[Boating’s] just been an area that has grown in spite of the downturn the economy has had," he said. "The opportunity is not only here at Laurel Marina. All of the marinas [in the Tri-Cities] are expanding right now."

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