TOWN OF EVANS, N.Y. — A welcome sign that summer and the 2024 boating season is on the way, as boats launched into the newly renovated Sturgeon Point Marina for the first time this year.
“The marina is an important aspect of our community, it’s our jewel of the town,” Town of Evans supervisor Ray Ashton said.
Issues with the outer break wall have caused a rocky past four years for this staple in the Town of Evans.
In 2020 and 2021, a double punch of storm damage and the pandemic delayed the marina opening.
In 2023, The town made more major repairs to the wall, pushing the opening from early spring to late summer.
Ashton tells 7 News that grant money helped fix the marina, it just wasn’t a quick process.
“People may not understand, but when you get a grant, it’s not ‘you make a phone call and get the money,’” Ashton said. “You’re talking 2, 3, 4 years down the road. Everything that’s going on is from the past supervisor.”
Regardless, Ashton hopes Wednesday’s opening ushers in a new era with fewer delays.
“I think it looks pretty good, pretty great,” Ashton said.
Which is a welcome sight for the local business overlooking the marina, Connors Hot Dog Stand.
“To have the boat launching and have that traffic coming in is definitely going to help business,” Shannon Shepherd said.
Shepherd is the fourth generation of the Connors family.
The 80-year-old restaurant originally started in Angola-on-the-Lake.
Their second location at the marina has welcomed boaters since 1997, but Shepherd feels these past four years have just been a little bit different.
“It has certainly been a saga in the Town of Evans, it took multiple administrations to get this right, but they wanted to do this right with the DEC,” Shepherd said. “People are creatures of habit with their French fries, we didn’t suffer that greatly, but opening the marina this early in the season will only help us.”
Boats are already launching for the season.
Connors Hot Dogs on the marina will re-open on May 25.
