WHAT IT’LL LOOK LIKE — The construction taking place a few hundred yards down Route 11 is for the future Causeway Marina Service and Sales location. The expansion should be open by Labor Day. (Drawing courtesy of Causeway Marina)

By Dawn De Busk

Staff Writer

NAPLES — Something deep in the ground caused one marina owner to rethink the location of his boat repair shop.

“Remember a few years ago when the gas prices were through the roof. That was what prompted me to start looking for something closer,” said Dan Allen, who co-owns Causeway Marina with his wife Dawn.

The Causeway Marina is located next to the Robert Neault Memorial Bridge off Brandy Pond. Currently, the marina has property in Bridgton for boat storage and repairs.

“Repairing the boats that far away was getting costly,” Allen said.

After looking at a few pieces of property on the market, Allen happened upon some acreage across the road from the American Legion Post 155. The lot is directly off Route 11.

“That is where we are moving our shop to,” Allen said, adding the new space will be where the marina repairs and stores boats. The Bridgton location will be storage only, he said.

“Because this lot is so desirable, we decided to put in a showroom for the new ones,” he said.

The boat repair shop “is going to allow faster service” for customers.

It will be in operation by Labor Day, Allen said.

“There is 8.5 acres,” he said. “Eventually, we will put a storage building there as we grow and need it.”

That is a future plan that is not yet on the drawing board. However, the Allens are certain that it will be a one-story storage building.

“We are not big into rack storage. You don’t need to in Maine,” he said. “It is costly to go up. Everytime, you lift a boat in the air on a forklift, it’s more labor intensive and it increases the chance of damaging a boat,” he said.

Currently, the foundation has been laid for the new Causeway Marina Service and Sales location. The building will be 48 by 60 feet. If all goes as planned, the Allens will be able to operate from that location by Labor Day.

According to Allen’s son Jesse who works for the family business, the new showroom will carry all the most popular watercrafts.

“We will be selling Crownline, Princecraft and Lowe boats,” Jesse said.

Future boat sales look promising, the father and son agreed.

“The economy is good now so people are back buying,” Dan Allen said.

Causeway Marina was represented at the Portland Boat Show, which took place in March.

“The boat show in Portland had a good turnout,” Dan said.

The number of people who order boats before the summer starts or wait until boat season is full tilt is a fairly even split.

“It is 50-50. Some like ordering early,” Dan said.

Jesse continued, “Some people decide at the last minute. Some people literally pull in and buy one because they saw a nice boat.”

The groundbreaking on the Route 11 property took place last autumn.

Chaplin Logging, in Naples, cleared the lot. Another Naples business, Earth Solutions, is doing ground work. Tim Barry, Inc., of Bridgton, placed the concrete.

Morton Buildings, Inc., which is based in Illinois with a branch business in Maine, will be erecting the structure.

“The building is going up on Aug. 15 — that’s when they’ll start construction,” Jesse said.

“It is going to be nice,” Jesse said.

Dan said that a lot of people have said they are excited about the completion of the construction.

“In this new building, we have a small showroom so that people will be able to see the boats inside in the wintertime without having to trudge through the snow,” Dan said.

“It also gives us room to put all our for sale boats in one spot rather than in multiple areas, Jesse said.