SIOUX CITY, Iowa (Iowa Media Wire) — In March, the Sioux City Marina announced it wouldn’t be open for the summer season, causing problems for both boaters and businesses.
“Really? No way is this happening,” local boater David Bride said.
“Extremely disappointed,” local boater Joel Foix said. “It’s something that we’ve done every year for decades.”
While some were able to find alternatives to the marina, others threw in the towel for the summer.
“Fortunately, I have in-laws that live on the river,” Bride said. “So just last weekend, we put their docks in and they were kind enough to let me utilize their dock for the summer.”
“I don’t go out near as often as I used to,” Foix said. “Putting it in and taking it out, takes quite a bit of time doing that. Takes away from your weekend, so going out during the week just doesn’t happen anymore.”
With fewer boats on the Missouri River, a restaurant 14 miles up the river has been put in a tough spot.
“We have cut back on staff a little bit,” Karen Anderson with Rivertime Resort said. “We’re downsizing our menu just to make our ends meet here.”
While Rivertime Resort receives plenty of people arriving off the land, a good portion of their clientele would dock their boats for a good time.
“There’s a lot of people that we haven’t seen yet this summer,” Anderson said. “We get actually two groups from Omaha that come up that for sure won’t be able to. They’ll boat to Sioux City on Friday, stay at the marina Friday night, head up here Saturday morning, spend the whole day here and then head back to the marina for Saturday night, and then they head back to Omaha. They won’t be able to come.”
“I just feel for the people that can’t actually get their boats out this season,” Bride said.
The city of Sioux City has filed a lawsuit against the company that manages the marina, accusing it of breaching its contract.