Published: May 11, 2008 12:29 am      

TOWN OF TONAWANDA: Boat harbor gets a new look

TOWN OF TONAWANDA — Although fishermen might spend most of their time in a boat, the town has given them something appealing to launch from and come back to.

When the town’s small boat harbor opened Friday after a $400,000 investment, it had an entirely new look and improved functionality, said Director of Youth, Parks and Recreation Dan Wiles.

“We wouldn’t be walking here two years ago,” Wiles said as he strolled down a newly installed shore-side sidewalk that took the place of a steep concrete incline.

The harbor has been around for decades, and that was beginning to show with cracked pavement near the shore, damaged pathways and the broken concrete lining the nearby bank at Aqua Lane Park collecting all types of debris from the river. After getting a matching grant for $195,000, updating the facility was an easy decision, said Councilman Dan Crangle.

“With the matching grant this was money well spent and not something we could pass up,” Crangle said.

The shore area near the harbor parking lot was cleaned out and squared off to allow a new, smaller ramp to go in. That will give residents with smaller watercraft like canoes and jet skis an opportunity to use the park, Crangle said.

The walkway between the harbor and the Aqua Lane was repaved, extending the town’s bike path to the park and giving fishermen a better place to camp out for fishing from the bank. The park’s shore also got a drastic facelift, with teams clearing away all of the jagged concrete that had lined it for a quarter of a century, Wiles said.

“I don’t know what they were thinking in the ’70s,” Wiles said. “I don’t why they did it, but that was the thing to do then.”

Now there’s fitted carved stone leading to the shoreline, giving the area more visual appeal and improving safety for those walking along the water’s edge.

John Randall has worked at the harbor since 2000 and said the spot is a favorite for fishermen looking to bag some walleye or perch and for pleasure cruisers when the sun is shining. If the weather had been warmer on opening day, the place would have been swamped, he said.

“Usually after Memorial Day is the big summer pick up for everything out here,” Randall said.

With that in mind, the recreation department is looking at even more improvements, including a trial run of a refrigerated bait machine and talks are underway to see if a fly fishing class would be feasible in the location. All of those things don’t necessarily add up to money for the town, but they do make the town a better place to live, Wiles said.

“The harbor brings in about $20,000 in revenue each year, and we’ll spend 75 percent of that on staffing and the maintenance that has to be done every day,” Wiles said. “It’s not a real money maker, but it’s a service that we like to provide to the town.”

Residents can take advantage of the harbor for the entire season for $100 or for $75 if they’re a senior. For those with less time on their hands to challenge the intellect of local fish, day passes are also available.

Contact reporter Daniel Pye at

693-1000, ext. 158.