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Just when we thought the grand plans for Clover Island had been completed, the Port of Kennewick announced the next phase of its vision.
The island has been spruced up with a new entrance archway, a lighthouse, bathrooms and other improvements. The next phase is even grander, with plans including a moored stern-wheeler.
We're talking about the kind of boat you'd see used as a casino on rivers in the Midwest. That sounds pretty cool to us -- but this one won't be used for gambling.
The big boat would add about 20,000 square feet of space to the island to be used as an events center for waterfront meetings, weddings and banquets.
Another component of the plan calls for a 1.25-acre development between the new port building and the new Clover Island Yacht Club facility. The Mariners Village would be home to an outdoor fireplace, a patio with misters and small mixed-use buildings.
The feedback on the concept was so positive at a recent port commission meeting that Executive Director Tim Arntzen was asked to flesh out the idea a bit more. That would include public input and the economics of the project.
The port also will hire a marine engineering firm and begin the permit process for the riverboat. But that doesn't mean the boat will be floating here for certain. Putting anything on or near the river requires a lengthy permitting process involving the blessing of federal, state and local officials.
Arntzen already has looked at some riverboats, which have become a relative bargain thanks to changes in laws in the Midwest that have allowed casinos to now be built on land. That has made some of the riverboats obsolete. So what once was a $25 million boat can now be had for $2 million or less, according to Arntzen.
The big question is how to pay for it all. The Port of Kennewick has been very efficient about announcing plans and finding a way to fund them without raising the tax levy rate in recent years. And this project would be no exception.
Arntzen said one possible way to buy the boat would be for the port to use bonds and repay them with income from events on the boat. As for the Mariners Village, the port would give the project an initial financial push and then expect private money to pay for part of the development.
Before anything happens, the commissioners rightly want cost estimates. But that doesn't mean there's nothing going on to improve the island. A $750,000 project will begin soon to restore the riverbank to a more natural state, removing concrete.
And given the port's track record of accomplishments in recent years, we fully expect to see a riverboat and the Mariners Village take shape at Clover Island in the not too distant future.
