Waterfront plans unveiled for old Duffy’s property
A small amphitheatre, a transient marina and a fishing wharf highlight the latest concept drawings for Amherstburg’s waterfront property where the former Duffy ’s Tavern once stood.
Last week, Landmark Engineering Inc., the town’s project consultants, unveiled the preferred concepts for what town officials refer to as the Waterfront Property Project.
Dan Krutsch, president of Landmark, said feedback has been mostly positive except for a segment of the community that’s pushing for a boat launch, which his firm is not recommending. “The site location in the downtown core is not the optimal location for a boat ramp,” the report said, noting that “prime property ” would have to be developed as a parking lot.
Mayor Aldo DiCarlo said a waterfront parking lot threatened a proposed adjacent downtown hotel development by Amico Construction.
“They didn’t want their guests looking down at a parking lot, and if there’s a boat launch it may have changed (Amico’s) opinion.” DiCarlo said.
DiCarlo and Krutsch noted the owners of Duffy’s Tavern closed their boat ramp in part because of hassles over trucks and trailers parked up and down Dalhousie Street.
“It’s the craziest place for a boat launch,” DiCarlo said. “Been there, done that, it didn’t work well.” The concept drawings show a transient marina with 24 or 25 boat slips, an amphitheatre that’s 40-feet wide by 25-feet deep and a fishing pier that’s more than 200 feet long.
“With all the feedback we’ve got, it’s a much more doable project in the short term,” DiCarlo said. Krutsch said the footprint of the amphitheatre was scaled back “to provide greater flexibility in the use of the site.”
The almost three-acre space will include a festival plaza, a plaza centrepiece and parking for food trucks.
“This will likely be a multistage project,” DiCarlo said. “We don’t want to go to the bank and borrow millions of dollars when we can do it in stages.”
The entire project could carry a price tag of $8 million. If broken down, shoreline improvements would cost approximately $500,000, the plaza site would take between $2.5 and $3 million and the marina would also cost between $2.5 and $3 million. The cost could go higher depending on final design changes. Krutsch said the wharf can accommodate docking for tall ships, but there’s an appetite for facilities that can handle a Great Lakes cruise ship. Once an environmental assessment is complete, administration hopes to bring the project to council for consideration in the 2019 budget.
“Our goal is to move forward with the project in 2019,” said John Miceli, Amherstburg ’s chief administrative officer.
The town bought the closed tavern and motor inn for $1.7 million in 2016. The old tavern and inn were demolished in 2017.