Construction is beginning on a $1.67 million project that will replace aging marina docks, add an accessible kayak launch and stabilize Long Pier along Geneva's Seneca Lake waterfront.
The Marina Amenities and Long Pier Stabilization Project is backed by a $750,000 share of Geneva's $10 million Downtown Revitalization Initiative award and $924,000 from the state's Local Waterfront Revitalization Program. Both programs are administered by the New York Department of State.
New docks and accessibility improvements planned
The project will remove the existing floating dock system and install 3,440 square feet of new floating docks. Plans also call for a 35-foot-by-4-foot gangway connecting the fixed platform to the docks, repairs to the fixed bulkhead and stabilization and repairs covering about 12,400 square feet of Long Pier.
A new floating kayak launch is designed to expand access for people of different ages and abilities. Its features will include a transfer bench, grab rails, overhead bars and an accessible gangway.
State and city officials said the work will address infrastructure that has aged at one of Geneva's most heavily used waterfront areas. The added dock space and repairs are also intended to support boating, recreation, tourism and public access to Seneca Lake.
New York Secretary of State Walter T. Mosley said the project connects waterfront recreation with downtown revitalization. Geneva Mayor Jim Cecere said the lakefront is central to the city's identity, quality of life and economy, while Acting City Manager Taylor Youngs said residents, boaters and visitors will directly experience the improvements.
Construction equipment for the pier and dock work will arrive by barge from Cape Vincent on the St. Lawrence River. Seaway Marine Group is expected to move the equipment through Lake Ontario, the Oswego Canal, the Erie Canal and the Cayuga-Seneca Canal before reaching Seneca Lake.
State officials said the route highlights Geneva's canal heritage and a broader effort to increase boating and commercial shipping on New York's canal system. The announcement did not provide a completion date for the marina and pier construction.
Project traces back to 2012 waterfront study
The marina and pier work was first identified in Geneva's 2012 Waterfront Infrastructure Feasibility Study, which was prepared with support from the Department of State's Local Waterfront Revitalization Program. It was later selected as a priority project under Geneva's Downtown Revitalization Initiative plan.
The state said the marina improvements are the final project to be completed through Geneva's $10 million DRI award. Geneva was selected as the Finger Lakes winner in the program's first round in 2016.
Other communities chosen in later Finger Lakes rounds include Batavia, Penn Yan, Seneca Falls, Rochester, Newark, Perry, Waterloo and Canandaigua. The statewide initiative has awarded $1 billion to 99 communities through nine rounds, according to the Department of State.
The DRI uses local planning followed by state funding for selected projects intended to strengthen downtowns and neighborhoods. Empire State Development President, CEO and Commissioner Hope Knight said the Geneva marina work continues the city's broader waterfront transformation.
Earlier grants reshaped Geneva's lakefront and downtown
The Department of State listed five other completed Geneva waterfront projects supported by the Local Waterfront Revitalization Program. They include $450,000 for the Finger Lakes Visitor and Event Center and $625,000 for shoreline improvements, a Castle Creek-to-Lakefront Beach path, boat launch jetty work and a raised planter roundabout.
The program also provided $800,000 for the second phase of shoreline improvements and a multiuse path from Long Pier to Castle Creek, followed by another $800,000 for a third phase of Seneca Lake access work. A $70,000 design grant supported plans for a Long Pier extension and an expanded marina layout.
Geneva's completed DRI work includes $2.54 million in streetscape projects on Exchange and Castle streets and at the five-point intersection. Those improvements added a gateway sign, pedestrian safety changes, benches, planters, crosswalk treatments, sidewalk bump-outs and public art.
Other DRI awards included $183,000 for lighting, a catering kitchen and dressing-room air conditioning at the Smith Opera House; $475,000 to turn a vacant theater into Twisted Rail Brewery; and $150,000 for stabilization, lighting and entrance improvements at the lakefront tunnel under Routes 5 and 20.
The city also used $650,000 to convert the vacant Patent Block building into 11 apartments and two storefronts, $900,000 to renovate the Dove Block into a community arts center and $1.25 million to develop the net-zero Lake Tunnel Solar Village on a former parking lot.
Another $2.2 million DRI project added crosswalks, landscaped medians and sidewalks while reducing travel lanes along Routes 5 and 20 to improve the connection between downtown and the lakefront. A separate $600,000 building improvement fund supported renovations to nine buildings and 16 commercial units.
Geneva and the Seneca Watershed Intermunicipal Organization completed a watershed plan in 2022 with Department of State support to guide protection of Seneca Lake's water quality. The city also received a state Smart Growth Community Planning grant in 2025 to update its comprehensive plan and incorporate smart-growth principles into land-use policy.
The Local Waterfront Revitalization Program funds municipal waterfront plans, implementation projects and regional watershed management plans. Its stated goals include expanding public waterfront access, protecting the environment and supporting tourism, economic development and community resilience.
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