Park manager Don Campbell talks Friday, Feb. 17, 2017 about improvements that will be made at the marina in Harrison Bay State Park. The fuel pier building will be replaced, and will include restrooms.
Park manager Don Campbell talks Friday, Feb. 17, 2017 about improvements that will be made at the marina in Harrison Bay State Park.Standing on the far end of the pier at Harrison Bay State Park marina on Friday morning, park manager Don Campbell let out a chuckle as he glanced at a pump used to fuel the tanks of visiting boats.
"That one is a little old," he said, motioning toward a contraption that would look more apt at an antique store than at a popular boat launch.
At a marina where most everything else is relatively new, Harrison Bay's fuel system is an obvious holdover from a bygone era.
But this year's state budget should bring the fueling system up to modern times with the rest of the marina.
Gov. Bill Haslam's proposed 2017-18 state budget calls for an unprecedented $58.8 million in capital spending on state park projects, including $1.37 million for updates to Harrison Bay's floating fuel pier system.
"It will increase our gas sales," said Campbell, who has worked at the park since 1981. "We could have it open longer hours. And it'll also create a safer pumping station and a safer environment down here, too."
The Tennessee General Assembly is expected to approve the 2017-18 budget during the ongoing legislative session, but Campbell said he knows from previous experience that it will probably be at least 18 months before work begins on the new fuel system.
This wave of funding is also expected to pay for improvements to the building at the end of the pier by adding a restroom and a year-round sewage pump-out station for marina users.
Harrison Bay received $3.74 million in state funding through the 2011-12 state budget to modernize just about everything at the marina. The fuel system got left out, however, as other improvements ate up all the money.
The previous capital investment covered new electrical and water systems, renovations to the marina building, offices and restaurant, along with new wiring and lighting.
"Anytime you're working on the water, it gets expensive," Campbell said.
Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation Commissioner Bob Martineau wrote a guest column published in the Knoxville News Sentinel earlier this month amid controversy over the likely privatization of some hospitality services at larger parks, such as Fall Creek Falls. The column highlighted that Tennessee has invested more than $135 million in capital funds and $18 million in major maintenance funds for state parks since 2012.
Harrison Bay has benefited from those capital expenditures somewhat regularly.
The park received $2.25 million to begin campground updates in the 2012-13 budget and an additional $1.8 million from the 2013-14 budget to finish them, in addition to the $3.74 million for the marina from the 2011-12 budget.
"I am proud of our administration's acknowledgment and action to include state parks as part of the rural economic development equation in Tennessee," Martineau wrote.
Campbell said there are 198 boats with reserved spots at the Harrison Bay marina and a wait list nearly as long. Thousands of boaters who store their watercraft elsewhere use the Harrison Bay put-in each year, too, and some fuel up at the marina.
The new fuel system will complete the facility's modernization, he said.
"Getting us up to speed as far as safety and offering a better service to boat users," Campbell said, "that is basically what the whole deal is about."
Contact staff writer David Cobb at dcobb@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6249.