Lakebay Marina Redevelopment

 

Current Lakebay Announcements

  • Legislature allocates $506,000 in new funding for 2024/2025.
 

 

History
  
Project Information

 

Click to learn about the history of Lakebay
 

 

click to learn about Lakebay project history
 
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Partners

 

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Lakebay partners

History of Lake Bay

location map of Lakebay area

Lakebay Marina is located on Key Peninsula in Pierce County, across the water from Penrose Point State Park in Mayo Cove, with picturesque views of Mount Rainier. This is an underserved, strategic location for recreational boaters between Olympia and Tacoma.

In its current condition, the site is not capable of meeting the needs of recreational enthusiasts. The facilities are closed to visitors and the docks have been removed due to safety risks.

In 2021, the Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) in partnership with the Recreational Boaters Association of Washington (RBAW's) Marine Parks Conservancy purchased the marina with funding from the Recreation and Conservation Office (RCO), the Washington State Department of Commerce, and Pierce County.

The redevelopment of this marina is pivotal to preserving public access at this site and its rich history. Lakebay Marina dates back to 1884, when the pier was built for small cargo ships and servicing the renowned Mosquito Fleet. The site also housed an egg and poultry cooperative, which sustained the economy of the Key Peninsula during the Great Depression.

old building at Lakebay

There is a tremendous opportunity to restore this marina and make it publicly accessible for a wide range of recreational activities. Additionally, there is significant potential to restore and protect habitat and water quality in Mayo Cove, which is a pocket estuary with kelp, and eelgrass that supports rearing salmon, Pacific herring, and numerous shellfish species. The preservation and redevelopment of Lakebay is cited in Pierce County's growth management plan.

The egg and poultry cooperative building is on the Pierce County Register of Historic Places. This project will evaluate the potential and cost for relocating and preserving the building, if possible.

Project Information

Timeline

In May of 2025 we removed the 2000-gallon underground fuel storage tank that was located in front of the old garage. We also removed the old garage. Our initial data indicated that there would be some contaminated soil to remove with the tank. Engineers had estimated approximated 61 tons of contaminated soil. As we began to dig we discovered that the tank had been leaking for decades. After removing 323 tons of contaminated soil we still had not reached the end of it. Because it was becoming a larger cleanup event than we had anticipated, it was reported to the Department of Ecology and the hole was filled in with 150 tons of rock, topped with soil until further investigation can be completed. During construction a significant number of Cultural Resources were unearthed. DNR has hired Willamette Cultural Resources, LLC. to monitor construction and mitigate found artifacts. DNR and Willamette are working with the Squaxin, Puyallup, and Nisqually Tribes to not only preserve discovered items, but avoid future disturbance in our designs.

The referenced media source is missing and needs to be re-embedded.

DNR has hired Maul, Foster & Alongi to conduct remedial investigations to determine the extent of the contamination plume and plan cleanup efforts. Borings will be drilled in February-March to sample the soil.

DNR received an RCO grant in the amount of $400,000 (with a 50% match by DNR) to restore the shoreline along the bay. This will involve removal of the wood armoring along the shoreline on both sides of the pier. After the armoring is removed the shoreline will be capped with additional soil to fill in where erosion has occurred. Native planting will be placed in the new soil to keep it from eroding again. DNR is contracting Herrera Inc. for the design. We anticipate construction in the first quarter of 2027.

On the stream side of the property the ecology block wall has begun to collapse. The blocks are on the shoreline and not causing any danger to humans, property, or the environment. They will be removed during the contamination cleanup.

We are currently seeking proposals from architects to redesign the pier. The Recreational Boaters Association of Washington (RBAW) has secured a legislative appropriation to fund the design and permitting of the pier and the removal of creosote wood.    

Our goal is to complete all of this work in the current biennium which ends June 30, 2027.

Future Plans

This project provides many opportunities to increase the sustainability of a marina at this site.

These opportunities include:

  • Removing the bulkhead and restoring the shoreline

  • Removing creosote-treated wood and Styrofoam to reduce pollution

  • Installing grating to reduce shading

  • Landscaping adjacent uplands to support native species.

  • Improving the marina, docks, and public access points to restore opportunities for boating, sailing, kayaking, stand-up paddleboarding, swimming, crabbing, and more.

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Partners

The Lakebay Marina Redevelopment project has the following key project partners:

  • Washington Department of Natural Resources
  • Recreation Boating Association of Washington, Marine Parks Conservancy
  • Washington State Parks