BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — People across Indiana spent their holiday weekend on the water, and Lake Monroe in Bloomington was among the busiest destinations.
The area is still recovering from a storm that caused enough damage to force one marina to close for the Fourth of July.
Tom Greenmann, owner of Tow Herons Marina, said the storm caused around $1 million in damage.
“This bridge behind us and this building were all pulled away from shore,” said Greenmann. “This building was against that dock.”
While Greenmann was making repairs, boaters were disappointed they couldn’t celebrate Independence Day at his marina.
“We had to cancel around, I’m going to say, 60 or 70 boat rentals for the first week in July, which was a big week, probably $60,000-worth of prepaid boat rentals,” said Greenmann.
Now, closing out the summer, it’s another big week for Two Herons.
Their gas pump was just restored a few days ago, and all 18 boats were rented out every day of the holiday weekend.
“We just booked it last week,” said one boater, Isaac Larrison. “We were just out today, visited with some friends, and took the family down.”
Many of the boaters out on the water remember how it looked following the storms and how it looks now that almost everything is fixed up again.
“I’m on the waiting list to get a slip here, so I’m excited to get a slip down here hopefully next year,” Larrison said. “It looks great, and they’ve done a great job since last time I saw it two months ago, I guess it’s been already.”
A few of the docks at Two Herons still don’t have electricity, and their restaurant remains closed through the rest of the season, which ends Sept. 15.
The marina plans to have everything back to normal next year.
