STEVENS POINT, WI (WSAU) — After three months of construction, a new dock is ready for use this summer.
Thursday afternoon a ribbon-cutting ceremony was held for the newly repaired Bukolt Park Boat Dock in Stevens Point. The new dock was a collaboration between the City’s Parks, Recreation, and Forestry Department, and the Prime Water Anglers non-profit organization.
A little over a dozen people turned out to the ribbon cutting at the dock according to Director of Parks, Recreation, and Forestry Dan Kremer. He says the project began after the Department found the old boat dock broken beyond repair after the spring thaw.
“The existing boat dock that had been there for about three decades actually was broken. There were cracks in it and it was to a point where it was unsafe to use. We had not budgeted or planned to replace it but once it started to show that type of wear and the way it came out of the spring thaw cycle we had to close it.
“And we called the Prime Water Anglers because they are a huge partner for us for all of our boating and fishing amenities in the park system. And their members reviewed it, looked at it with us, and we quickly made the determination that it was to a point that it had deteriorated so much we had to replace it.
“Because of the large effort it was, we couldn’t have done it without the Prime Water Anglers. So they agreed to partner with us and we were able to construct it. Basically from the first idea when we found it had to be done to when we opened it in less than 3 months.”
The new boat dock has a few new features, including a less slippery surface made from treated lumber and is built for a more solid feel. Moving forward Kremer said there is some seasonal maintenance that needs to be done on the dock but that it’s fairly minimal.
“So the permanent part that is attached to the concrete does stay in. So the only thing we do there is we have to winterize it every year by loosening some bolts and pulling some pipes out of the water. But there are two finger docks that attach to it.
“That every year we have to put in in the spring and take out in the fall. So we have a piece of machinery that we go out and we just take those finger docks out and set them up on land. So that’s the biggest maintenance piece that goes on with it.”
With the new boat dock completed Kremer says there are some plans in the works with the Prime Water Anglers to update the seasonal docks in Bukolt Park as well. The new dock is open when Bukolt Park is open from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m.
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