Today, the Dillon and Frisco marinas are owned and operated by their respective towns, but their histories include colorful elements, such as ski resort ownership and citizen efforts that helped to establish the amenities.
The Dillon Marina came first — shortly after the Dillon Reservoir was completed in 1963. It was privately owned until the town of Dillon bought it in 1990, according to Dillon’s Finance Director Carri McDonnell, who has worked for the town since 1993. After purchasing the asset, the town handed over operations to Keystone Resort, which had a short stint running the marina from 1990 to 1995. McDonnell said that the town concessioned operations at the time because there wasn’t adequate town staff to handle the extra load.
In 1995, the town started running the marina in-house.
Marina Guest Services Manager Jenn Shimp explained the reason for the location of the Frisco Bay Marina at its current address of 267 Marina Road.
“The Marina was initially located here because the old highway that goes into the lake offered an easy way to let craft launch into the water that was easier than just off of a shoreline,” Shimp said in an email. “It took very little to blade a gravel parking lot and bring down a trailer for an office. That was the entirety of the marina at the very start.”
According to a timeline provided by Shimp, the town contracted with concessionaire Osprey Adventures to operate the marina until 2004. Between 1988 and 2001, the marina saw a series of upgrades, including the installation of a 100 foot dock, a boat launch, a marina service building, new docks and slips, a fuel dock and more.
In 2002, the town issued bonds for improvements to the marina and town hall. About $1.5 million was used for improvements to the marina, including reformatting the parking area, a new boat ramp, a dock for paddle sports and the relocation of the bike path, according to Shimp’s timeline.
The town began operating the marina in 2005. Since then, the Island Grill restaurant was built, the playground and lighthouse were installed, dock island was created as a result of drought, and the Big Dig project took place, which laid the groundwork for future improvements.
