Marina Rebirth
New owner has work cut out for him
Before Mike Jansen — owner of Classic City Marinas and the new lessee of the Little River Marina and Family Resort at Thurmond Lake — properly takes over as owner of his latest marina business venture, several areas of the local family hotspot will need to undergo a major facelift.
Although Jansen said that he felt being in close proximity to the city of Augusta — just “50 miles up the lake” — made the marina a great spot to set up shop, the Classic City Marinas owner has a number of renovation responsibilities to meet before opening up.
Jensen takes over the property from longtime owner Pam Bugg, who was forced to leave last December when the Corps of Engineers refused to renew her lease. Bugg alleged that even though she put over $300,000 of her inheritance into the business, the corps would not allow her to recoup anything other than the docks, which she could sell for only a fraction of what they were worth.
“
The property is somewhat dated, actually,” Jansen said of Little River. “The field tanks are out of date as well as several structures on the property; they’re all dated and in need of repair or replacements. But as far as the marina goes, there are no docks, there’s no gas and there’s no ramps.”
Jansen went on to say that public resources such as fuel docks and wet slips will have to be redone and purchased, and since the marina’s existing fuel tanks are not included in his lease — which includes 29 acres of the marina property — new fuel tanks will also need to be installed.
“
It’s just an effort to get the marina back to kind of a better state that it was in when it was last opened,” Jansen said. “Beyond that, we’re currently looking at different types of storage services, but I don’t think such services can be expected in the immediate future. As far as other services are concerned, there may be a restaurant down the road.”
The newly renovated Little River property — which is being leased out by the Army Corps of Engineers — will ultimately serve as not just a venue for restaurants, but several other facilities. However, Billy Birdwell, spokesperson for the Savannah District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, said that the property’s contract will only permit these facilities to be established in the future.
“
The current license allows Jansen to conduct assessments and environmental testing of the area,” Birdwell said. “The future lease will allow a restaurant and other facilities in accordance with terms and conditions of the lease and the J. Strom Thurmond Master Plan. At the moment, the formal lease document and development plan are being evaluated and reviewed by both the government and Classic City Marina.”
Another requested service from locals interested in frequenting the marina has been camping. But while Jansen and his company feel that camping would provide a huge draw to Little River, the contract
drafted up by the corps will simply not allow space for it.
“
In the lease that the Corps of Engineers put out there, there’s really no room for camping,” Jansen said. “We’re kind of limited to the property that they included in this lease. Based on the property that they put out for bid, we didn’t feel that camping would really be an option. That’s not to say that in the future it couldn’t be added. But with what’s been proposed, there’s simply no property available for camping.”
Rather than offering various camping services, Jansen felt that, given the property offered, his company could put the lease to better use for facilities ranging from ship stores to storage and parking. As for the corps-owned property not leased to Jansen, Birdwell stated that while additional cleanup will be required on portions of the area formally leased to Little River, much of that property will revert back to its natural state. And while the land’s unused underground storage tanks remain a serious issue, marina-goers needn’t lose too much sleep over the matter.
“
The tanks will be removed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as soon as financially feasible,” Birdwell assured. “However, it will be up to the new lease holder if the tanks will be replaced.”
For the future, Birdwell said that there are no current plans or options to include further development beyond Jansen’s 29 acres, but minor adjustments may be made to the area to accommodate any engineering or draining issues. Looking toward the marina’s grand revival, Jansen says it will be a slow process.
“
We’ve already done preliminary development planning, but we still have a lot of other detailed planning to get done,” he said. “We won’t be opened up for fuel cells or anything like that this summer, but as far as the [entire] development process goes, it can take anywhere from six to 12 months to fully realize. But we’re looking forward to the journey.”You Might Also Like:
Although Jansen said that he felt being in close proximity to the city of Augusta — just “50 miles up the lake” — made the marina a great spot to set up shop, the Classic City Marinas owner has a number of renovation responsibilities to meet before opening up.
Jensen takes over the property from longtime owner Pam Bugg, who was forced to leave last December when the Corps of Engineers refused to renew her lease. Bugg alleged that even though she put over $300,000 of her inheritance into the business, the corps would not allow her to recoup anything other than the docks, which she could sell for only a fraction of what they were worth.
“The property is somewhat dated, actually,” Jansen said of Little River. “The field tanks are out of date as well as several structures on the property; they’re all dated and in need of repair or replacements. But as far as the marina goes, there are no docks, there’s no gas and there’s no ramps.”
Jansen went on to say that public resources such as fuel docks and wet slips will have to be redone and purchased, and since the marina’s existing fuel tanks are not included in his lease — which includes 29 acres of the marina property — new fuel tanks will also need to be installed.
“It’s just an effort to get the marina back to kind of a better state that it was in when it was last opened,” Jansen said. “Beyond that, we’re currently looking at different types of storage services, but I don’t think such services can be expected in the immediate future. As far as other services are concerned, there may be a restaurant down the road.”
The newly renovated Little River property — which is being leased out by the Army Corps of Engineers — will ultimately serve as not just a venue for restaurants, but several other facilities. However, Billy Birdwell, spokesperson for the Savannah District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, said that the property’s contract will only permit these facilities to be established in the future.
“The current license allows Jansen to conduct assessments and environmental testing of the area,” Birdwell said. “The future lease will allow a restaurant and other facilities in accordance with terms and conditions of the lease and the J. Strom Thurmond Master Plan. At the moment, the formal lease document and development plan are being evaluated and reviewed by both the government and Classic City Marina.”
Another requested service from locals interested in frequenting the marina has been camping. But while Jansen and his company feel that camping would provide a huge draw to Little River, the contract
drafted up by the corps will simply not allow space for it.
“In the lease that the Corps of Engineers put out there, there’s really no room for camping,” Jansen said. “We’re kind of limited to the property that they included in this lease. Based on the property that they put out for bid, we didn’t feel that camping would really be an option. That’s not to say that in the future it couldn’t be added. But with what’s been proposed, there’s simply no property available for camping.”
Rather than offering various camping services, Jansen felt that, given the property offered, his company could put the lease to better use for facilities ranging from ship stores to storage and parking. As for the corps-owned property not leased to Jansen, Birdwell stated that while additional cleanup will be required on portions of the area formally leased to Little River, much of that property will revert back to its natural state. And while the land’s unused underground storage tanks remain a serious issue, marina-goers needn’t lose too much sleep over the matter.
“The tanks will be removed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as soon as financially feasible,” Birdwell assured. “However, it will be up to the new lease holder if the tanks will be replaced.”
For the future, Birdwell said that there are no current plans or options to include further development beyond Jansen’s 29 acres, but minor adjustments may be made to the area to accommodate any engineering or draining issues. Looking toward the marina’s grand revival, Jansen says it will be a slow process.
“We’ve already done preliminary development planning, but we still have a lot of other detailed planning to get done,” he said. “We won’t be opened up for fuel cells or anything like that this summer, but as far as the [entire] development process goes, it can take anywhere from six to 12 months to fully realize. But we’re looking forward to the journey.”You Might Also Like:
