Expansion is set to begin on Sardis Lake Marina next week.  Scheduled to start Monday, Aug. 16, the dock addition work is expected to last until sometime in December, according to Logan Schaefer, Harbor Master and General Manager since 2017.

With the assistance of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the City of Sardis, the marina plans to extend two of their current five docks, and also add two.

Over 150 slips in total are being added, including forty-two 28-foot slips; fifty-six 30-foot slips; forty-four 35-foot slips; and nine 70-foot slips.

According to Schaefer, the new marina ownership that came in November of last year is what propelled the long anticipated project.  “That kind of helped to push things along, and whenever the new owners came in, they put money down on docks and put us on the waitlist,” he said.  “So this is just as early as they could get to us, as busy as everyone’s been.”

Schaefer has worked for the marina since 2015, and he grew up around boating, so the project also pleases him on a personal level.   

“Things are starting to grow into what we originally dreamed of,” he said.  It’s going to be great for the growth of the community, and awesome for the area.”

With regards to the growth that’s occurred, he said, “I think it’s gonna help to improve activity on the lake, which has been improving every year for the past four or five years, which is very exciting to see…the people getting back out into boating has been fun to watch.”

The time is right, at the 98,000 acre stretch of land and water.  Considering the past few scorching weeks in the Mid-South, refuge at the lake for fishing, boating, knee and wake boarding, and tubing, have been in highest demand – in addition to the always coveted slip space.

Photo: More than 150 slips will be added at the Sardis Lake Marina in an expansion project that is slated to begin next week. (Davis Coen)