Indoor marina finished

NORTH KINGSTOWN – One seemingly crucial element is missing at this boatyard: water.
Mill Creek Marine celebrated Saturday the grand opening of its indoor boatyard at Quonset Business Park along the shore of Narragansett Bay. The new 19,000-square-foot facility rose from vacant land where the U.S. Navy once trained bulldozer operators. A vertical rack system that stacks up to four boats per rack can accommodate 72 boats. Elsewhere, 5,000 square feet is set aside for a service center. A small dock sits outside the building.
“It’s a little anti-climatic to be honest with you,” boatyard owner Jim Shriner said of the opening.
Shriner purchased Johnson’s Boat Yard in 2004, rechristened it Mill Creek Marine and closed the cramped Wickford facility. Operations at the new facility started in March but permanent power arrived only two weeks ago.
Shriner pitches his dry-rack storage system as the only one of its kind in the state. He says that indoor storage reduces costs for boat owners by keeping their boats protected from the weather and choppy seawater.
The Quonset facility currently houses about 20 boats, a number that Shriner expects to increase.
“There’s a lot of pent up demand and I think the fall will bring a lot more boats,” he said.
His master plan for the Quonset site includes additions that would expand capacity to 168 boats. The entire plan would represent a $4.5 million investment but is contingent on market demand and permits, Shriner said.