The Ohio Division of Watercraft and the city of Toledo received the States Organization for Boating Access Award this October while using federal grant funding to develop Glass City Marina for transient boaters. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Sport Fish Restoration Fund provided $374,000 toward construction of new marina facilities. And local sponsors provided $6,335,009 for cleanup of the former electricity plant on the site and construction.

“This award recognizes capstone projects that use sound engineering principles, innovative and cost-effective designs and provide long-term benefits for the transient boater,” said Julie Morin, Boating Infrastructure Grant Program coordinator with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The site of the new marina previously operated as an electricity plant, operating on refinery oils, hydraulic fluids and coal. The city of Toledo remediated the environmentally contaminated site so that it could be redeveloped for other purposes. Remediated sites take hazardous materials from environmentally contaminated sites and put them in sites the Environmental Protection Agency approves.

“Contaminated sites are detrimental to environmental quality, particularly water and air quality, so cleaning up and transforming contaminated sites has benefits for humans, wildlife and the environmental as a whole,” Morin said. “The city of Toledo and the Ohio Division of Watercraft have taken steps to revive outdoor recreational boating by providing marina facilities that can be enjoyed by the citizens of Ohio and visitors.”

The Service awarded the Ohio Division of Watercraft the grant funds in 2005. It used those funds to design and install fuel stations, restroom and shower facilities, and boat docks and utilities for transient boaters. With the help of the city of Toledo, it completed the construction of the marina in 2008.