Boat house construction boom could start soon in Cedar Rapids

Boat house owners in Cedar Rapids will have reason to celebrate Saturday.  After a two year struggle, Iowa Governor Chet Culver will sign a bill allowing the iconic floating houses in Ellis Harbor to stay.

The signing ceremony for HF2484 takes place at 4:00 p.m. Saturday on the harbor peninsula.  And boat house owners say that will signal the start of at least a mini building boom.

Dave Fear said his replacement boat house, when finished, will be about the size of a large double garage.  Except, it's a garage that will float in the harbor on the Cedar River.  In about a month, he hopes to finish the frame and add floatation devices.  Then he'll move everything from a boatyard to the harbor itself.  And once the frame is safely afloat, he'll start building up.  Fear hopes to have the $15-20,000 project finished by midsummer.  And while he's replacing a boat house lost to the June 2008 flood, he should have lots of company.

“There's a couple of frames down here.  People will start building-I've talked to a couple of other people.  They're ready to go they just need to get their plans together,” Fear said.

Before the flood wrecked everything, Ellis Harbor had space for 132 boat houses.  Flood waters swept at least half, including Fear's, downstream.  Many ended up wedged underneath a railroad bridge by Quaker Oats.  Iowa Department of Natural Resources rules wouldn't let owners tossed out of the water return or rebuild.  And without guarantees, many owners of the wrecked floating houses didn't want to commit to rebuilding.

But when lawmakers passed HF2484 earlier this year, it all changed.  The bill exempts a dock from state harbor rules if it's located in a city of more than 125,000 population and a county of at least 200,000 population.  In that case, local city harbor rules apply-so everything goes back to the pre-flood status with the city's River Recreation Commission and Parks and Recreation Department setting the rules.

So instead of half full, the boat house side of the harbor is filling up.  Julie Sina, Cedar Rapids Parks and Recreation Director said “I would hope we'd have 100% rentals and have it full because that's the purpose-to have people enjoying the area.”

Sina said the harbor's not full yet, but it's close.  Only eight of 132 slips remain either unrented or unreserved.  The yearly cost, for residents, right now is $440 .  Other boat owners said it'll be good to see everybody back in the harbor.

House boat owner Jay Eddings said “it was our own little community and everybody helps each other.”

And boat house owners say once the Governor signs on Saturday, they'll start to rebuild this floating community in earnest.

By Dave Franzman, KCRG-TV