Laconia considers requests to lease space to businesses at Weirs dock
 

http://www.laconiadailysun.com/newsx...sing-city-dock

Not sure how I feel about this... I do have an issue with the Mount essentially being a monopoly, but leasing the docks to a private company decreases the amount of dock space available for the public...



Woodsy

Weirs Public Docking
 

There are a variety of problems with the Weirs docks, not to be rehashed here, I hope. I would suggest that many of these issues could be resolved if the tenant offered the services of a dockmaster from Friday through Sunday. In my vision, s/he would sequence waiting boats, assist or require boats to pull forward or move to allow full use of the docks. Maybe monitor a couple of spaces for short term docking. The officer on duty in Glendale does not sequence boats, but manages the docks in other ways and I believe it is an asset to a crowded docking situation.
Good management could improve efficiency of use with no diminished access for the general public.

I personally would not mind this if they opened the back side of the docks for docking, there is plenty of room back there and water level is usually just fine. I hate how they rope off the back during bike week.
I guess it would also depend on the amount of space they are looking for.

Hey why not rent the old Anchor Marine location and ask that landlord or possibly have the town interview for that space

Why don't they entertain having this or these entities build an additional dock?

Patrick's
 

Years ago didn't Patrick's Pub keep a nice wooden cruiser at the Weir's docks and offer dinner cruises? I think they even had a good size sign down by the docks.

This issue is not an easy issue to debate. I see both the good and bad of it.

It might make a good opportunity for some business. But it will take away valuable public docking.

How do you chose on the correct division of the limited space?

If these enterprises added more dock space to replace what they were using, that might work out. Or, a finger pier out to the dock/s they will install for their business.

Maybe Laconia should do something about bringing business to the Weirs. We've gone over to the Crazy Gringo on Friday night because Meredith is packed. We never have an issue parking the boat because people arent interested in what the Weirs has to offer. At least they dont get the boater business like Meredith does.

Being new to the area, our neighbors , who have been here for a long time, believe the current owners of the weirs property make so much money during Bike week, that they don't need to attract crowds during the rest of the summer.Seems like an opportunity missed. It seems like a gold mine that could really be improved with other restaurants, ect. The Mount is a big attraction .
But then again I am not in the restaurant or entertainment business.

Ever notice
 

the lack of street vendors and carts in Laconia? It's because of Bike Week laws. The requirements and fees make it prohibitive to make money outside of Bike Week. And the city is going to make an exception for the public docks? More law suits!

Sailboat
 

I believe back in the 80's to 90's there was a sailboat that ran tours out of the weirs docks, something like that would be great, my guess is though there are people interested in running a partial ownership boat club out of there, in either case the docks at the weirs are almost never full, and you would actually get more docking if they removed half of the fingers, slips are not wide enough to use the whole length without getting trapped.

Yes
 

I remember that.....about the same time as the Patrick's cruises

It was a good size sailboat (at least 36ft+) called the "Queen of Winnipesaukee". I think!

A description of the "Queen":

I think every other pier should be shortened by half and those sections added to the remaining sections. That would, in effect, reserve some areas for smaller boats. Vessels that are too big for the existing configuration could then get in safely.

Queen of Winnipesaukee
 

If memory serves, the couple that owned and operated the QoW owned the Double Decker in Belmont. I do not remember their name, my elderly mother, from Laconia, grew up with them so she would know, to late to call . . .

Isabelle's Red Shanty!
 

A continuation of Double Decker, Dad met Mom at Isabelles in 1959, Hence me . . .

I live in Laconia and when we go out on the boat we skip right past the Weirs and head straight over to Meredith. Unforunately there are not enough reasons to stop in the Weirs most of the the time. The railroad is fun, drive in etc. but not to much else.

Merdith In my opinion is a lot cleaner and has more to offer in terms of restaurants and shops that are family freiendly. Weirs beach , all be in quaint needs a TOTAL Overhaul and a Master plan by the city of Laconia that I pay $$$ taxes too.. Or individual business investors with incentives from the city. But what will happen is a private group will turn the whole Weirs into upscale condos or housing. Is there a master plan for the Weirs? Or just kick the can down the road.

Unfortunate to see the Weirs Beach languish in mediocrity year after; year same ole stuff, I'm not talking bike week either. It's really to bad that the City of Laconia doesn't invest or plan more for the Weirs, the area on the water has so much potential.

How to do it
 

This has been discussed at great length in every place from this site to Laconia City Hall.

The questions remain:

1. How would you suggest Laconia go about kicking the existing Weirs Beach businesses out and obtaining ownership of their property?

2. What would you do about the veteran's buildings on Lakeside Avenue?

3. What property that the city owns in Weirs Beach do you suggest the City give a "TOTAL overhaul" to?

4. Where exactly, would you suggest the city "invest" more in the Weirs?

I can't answer those questions, but I will agree the Weirs area is sad, rundown and does need an overhaul. I find it hard to justify personal business owners spending a lot of cash to overhaul an area that is barely busy for 33% of the year. If it was a year round business absolutely.

The Weirs suffers from the same thing all of NH tourism suffers from. They are marketing the state and the weirs etc. as if it were 1950. I love nostalgic stuff but sadly that ship has sailed and people are not coming to NH in the numbers they used to come and those that are coming (lakeside rich excepted and they bring different economic problems to the local businesses) do not have the disposable income they had years ago.

Time to rethink the entire industry before the only animals enjoying scenic NH are four legged ones.

Hmmmm, maybe this wouldn't be such a bad thing.

How do you explain the stunning success of Meredith? The Weirs can be fixed but it will take vision and leadership two ingredients that are sorely lacking in Laconia.

Sadly in X amount of years they're won't be anyone who grew up in the 50s left. Time to start catering to the younger generations if we want to bring business in.

The stunning (If that is what you wish to call it) is the result of a single individual with vision and a sizeable bank account then followed up by a second individual also with vision and a large bank account. Take those two people away and Meredith looks like the Weirs without motorcycles.

So two people were able to solve the problem in Meredith but the problem at the Weirs is virtually unsolvable?

Easy first step. Let's start with a new docking facility. Relatively small dollars but the payback would be large. If consumers could more easily access the area by boat then the probability of new investment in restaurants/entertainment would increase.

Quick question: I've only taken our boat to the Weirs once because when I did the water was so choppy the boats were banging up against the docks. This was that busy Saturday in October two years ago, but I've always associated those docks with the image of my boat being whacked around. Is it often like that on weekends? Are they ever calm?

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Almost always rough.
 

I have found it to be boat rough afternoons and evenings, and as such, we stay away from docking at the Weirs "in season". We also only dock on the outside. We did dock on one of the inside finger docks, and someone nicely moved our boat to the furthest point in, and the two larger boats that were on the end when we got back to our boat were too wide to navigate safely between them. Fortunately, we only had about a 20 minute wait until the boat owner on the other side arrived and we were able to follow him out. Not a happy camper that day. lesson learned for us.

Perhaps they could widen the space between the docks, and extend them to allow more docking. Until then, it will be early June and after Labor Day for visiting.

Meredith had a LOT more to work with and willing sellers in the Church property and the Bank building among others . The other cute towns around the lake have also improved, there is nothing cute about the weirs. The Weirs doesn't present the same opportunity as Meredith. You have the Veterans property that just get worse and worse with no reasonable chance they will sell or improve it , their buildings will eventually fall down or be the victim of some disaster . the old dock and arcade are just worn out. short of that the entire hill situation makes development very difficult.
Laconia needs to put its limited resources into somehow finding more employment for its depressed poverty stricken town center and fixing its Huge drug issues. developing the 2 month a year beach area shouldn't be a top priority

The topograghy alone makes the Weirs a lot less desirable to develop like Meredith. And so much of that Weirs bld is taken by the Veterans. Even if all the vet houses where to come to market, there is an immediate hill right behind them. Tough to develop anything like Meredith. Any investing developer looking at the Weirs area would have to buy a lot of different parcels from many owners. Very unlikely.

I respectfully disagree with you BillyBob...

Laconia's drug issues aren't just Laconia's.. its a statewide issue. And perhaps you didn't know, but downtown Laconia is doing pretty good. They are restoring the Colonial theater, rehabbing old buildings etc etc. Downtown Laconia is looking up for sure!

The Weirs has A LOT to offer. It could be awesome with the right combination of public & private development. There needs to be some thought given as to how to make the Weirs more marketable to younger types. Some of the current property owners have ZERO interest in changing anything... they just want to collect their arcade money and put the absolute minimum to upkeep or modernize their property. Until that mentality changes, the Weirs will not change.

1. Embrace small businesses in the Weirs.. encourage street vendors, Food trucks, small restaurants & cafes, live music etc...

2. Reconfigure & enlarge the town dock to allow for better access.

3. Allow people to walk around with a beer or drink in plastic containers.

4. Encourage new development & property improvement with tax breaks or other incentives.

Bottom line is there are lots of ways to make things better in the Weirs!


Woodsy

Weirs redevlopment
 

I made this post back in 2014 on a similar thread. I thought it might be appropriate to dig it back up. I realize that it might not be a model for the Weirs where a lot of private property may not be available for redevelopment, but it shows what can happen when city government gets involved. In the case of the Weirs, it seems unlikely that anything will redevelop without some help from the city.

May, 2014:
I live in Huntington Beach, California. When I moved here in 1965, the town was a run down little surf spot with cheesy bars and surfboard shops, and not much else. The town council decided that the time had come to rescue the town from further decay. They created a tourism board whose sole purpose was to provide the vision and the know how as to how to redevelop the area to attract new business.
And it has worked out well. Working with the council and the population, bond issues were passed, and redevelopment took place. It took many years, but today Huntington Beach is an attraction for not only tourists, but people that live in the surrounding areas as well. In fact, tourists are not the prime supporters. The bulk of the spending comes from visitors from the nearby cities.
There is no casino, but there are nice shops, nice restaurants and street side cafes, and nighttime clubs. The tourism board has come up with events that happen almost on a weekly basis.

Where it once was a summer only type place, it now attracts people all year round. The key to the redevelopment was that the city took over most of the prime area (they bought out the old business properties)and built new structures that were very attractive, and leased them out to new business. Therefore, the new businesses did not have to invest huge sums of money in real estate. They also built a very large parking garage. It took time, but the formula has been very successful. Now the area is home to a Hilton hotel and a Hyatt Regency Resort among other large brands.

Something similar could happen to the Weirs, but it isn't going to happen if only small business is relied upon. The government needs to step in and give it a boost.

I know this sounds like liberal California, but Huntington Beach is in Orange County which is very conservative. It turned out to be a smart business move.

Tiers
 

I look at all the picturesque cities on Mediterranean hillsides, and think it is possible to develop a hill. First problem in the Weirs, for redevelopment is accumulating properties from many small parcels. Then, a multi-story, multi-use building. Shops, cafes etc on ground level, restaurants or patios on floor 2 & 3 overlooking the bay, and residential on the top 5 floors. Parking on the second or third level up the hill. Has to be public parking not just for building residents. And some sort of pedestrian conveyances up and down the hill like outdoor escalators, or glass elevators. Need two or three from the Weirs sign going towards Foster Ave. A series of escalators up Tower Hill so you could get on and off at a couple of mid levels. Of course, all the places I have in this mental model have a year round climate, or accommodate year round businesses.

Billy Bob:

The town needs to start small but it needs to lead. The docking facility should be the number one priority followed by incentives to developers to encourage investment. Once there is one nice building another follows and momentum builds. As momentum builds folks decide to sell their properties to capture long depressed value. Look at what happened in Claremont of all places. How about what is happening at Mt. Canmore. While the Weirs has some limitations how many lake front areas have that much open space. As far as the drug users go if there is opportunity maybe it will lift some out of poverty and bad choices.

How about a Funiculare from the dock to the top of the hill? Look what it did for Quebec City. The view would be worth it.

For those who don't know (I didn't)
 

Had to look up what a funicular was, as I had no clue. It is two cars attached to a cable that run on a track, operating similarly to the Cannon Mt Tram, but on the ground. As one car goes up the cliff / hill/ mountain, the other descends. Like the idea!!!

thanks Rick35. Learn something everyday on the Forum.:)

The Weirs has so much going for it. A great beach, fantastic views, tour boats and railroad. Someday someone with money will tear down the arcade strip and motel and put up a hotel. Perhaps route traffic around the boardwalk area and make it all pedestrian.

A century ago the Weirs was THE place to go. It will be again one day.

The big issue is the Veterans Compound. Unless some developer can incorporate that into the plan, there is not space to build out like was done in Meredith.

I like Funiculare
 

I like it, but I could SPELL escalator. I rode on one in Athens, but there was fee. Maybe a zip line to get back down?

They have one in Quebec city. It's pretty neat, but they do charge you to use it. It's more of an attraction / tourist thing. $2.25 CAD per person I think?

...... Weir's the ice cream?
 

For me, the number one best thing happening at the Weir's area is the Kellerhaus Wednesday ice cream cone special. It is unbelievably good ice cream, and they claim it is home made .....whatever that means .....but it is super-duper. For $1.09 you get a very large ice cream cone in maybe ten flavors with a dip if u want, and choice of regular or soft ice cream.

It is like a $3.25 value for just 1.09 ....and it happens every Wednesday ..... except Kellerhaus will be closed tomorrow on Wednesday, March 30. So's starting back up on Wednesday, April 6....... it's one dollar + the 9% state tax Wednesdays in the Weirs.

Kellerhaus is very happening place for ice cream ...... and the Weirs in general is a very scenic and visitor friendly area ...... 3-cheers for the Weirs!

Niagara Falls on Canadian side has one, it is perfect, been in use close to 100 years I bet
takes you from street level at the hotels down to the park level on the edge of the falls

They do charge a fee but the walk up the windy streets makes the fee well worth it.

Fun Spot could install the funicular and charge admission like their other arcades.

Make sure they use good cable. I recall going up the Quebec funicular the summer after there was a bad accident there. See below:

British Passenger Dies, 15 Hurt in Quebec Cable Car Plunge
Associated Press, 10/14/96; 03:32

QUEBEC (AP) - A cable snapped on a tourist ride carrying people down a
cliff to Quebec City's historic lower town. A British woman was killed
and 15 were injured when the cable car smashed into a wall at the
bottom of the hill.

The accident happened Saturday when the cable snapped near the end of
its downward run.

An emergency brake failed to stop the car, which sped out of control
and into the wall of a booth where passengers enter and exit the car.

``It was a dreadful mess,'' said Marcel Auclair, a city
resident. ``People were piled on top of each other.''

The dead woman was identified as Helen Tombs, 46, of London.

Ms. Tombs was traveling in a group on a 10-day tour of eastern Canada.

The 12 women and four men aboard the cable car were also from Ohio,
Massachusetts and New Hampshire as well as the French islands of
St. Pierre and Miquelon. Most sustained fractures, bruises and were in
shock.

Andre Morin, manager of Otis Canada, declined to speculate on the
cause of the accident. The cable car, he said, can carry up to 20
people.

The trip normally takes a minute or so, offering a view of the city,
the St. Lawrence River and Quebec's walled quarter atop the cliff.

The Weirs has plenty of potential. As others have noted there is the NHVA compound to consider. But I think that is something that can probably be dealt with, once the business in the area make some investments. Once the surrounding area has been made to look more presentable, getting donations to do something about the VA compound will be easier......

As others have said there needs to be a master plan for the area. Business right now don't know what to do in that area..... Is it going to continue to be a board walk atmosphere? Is it going to start being developed to be the next Meredith? What happens to bike week once that area, really starts to develop in one direction or another? These are all the questions a master plan helps to deal with.

Bike Week is to important to the area too loose. However as it is currently run, it would be hurt by development. As so much of the free space would start to be used. However Bike week can't make decisions about how to evolve until the area makes a step towards how it is going to evolve.

Do we see the dependencies here????

This is why the area remains in its current state.

I personally feel the area is best suited to remain, and be developed as a Family Destination..... what does that mean...

1. Well there is a Water Park that remains closed, Surf Coaster, the city and state could look to create incentives in the way of property tax breaks etc. that would entice someone to buy the facility and bring back to life.

2. Work with Land owners which have large lots to bring in more then just bike week vendors... Once again property tax brakes based on land utilization usually help bring this on...... Right now the land owners have no incentive to develop the land... they make a killing during bike week, with out any improvements, so why improve the land... Giving an incentive to a land owner, who puts up a building which can house not only Bike Week vendors, but craft fairs, etc. will bring events into the area...

3. Work on property tax incentives for current property owners and business who improve there properties.....

Do we see the trend here... make incentives, things will improve.....Laconia, needs to spawn the re-vitalization of the area, by making it beneficial for business and land owners to make improvements. Deciding how the incentives work that is where the master plan comes in... The tax incentive for a fresh coat of paint isn't the same as that for putting up an event building.

Everything I have seen to date, tells me Laconia and the State are not make it interesting to developers to start bring about change...

Planning
 

Laconia will be getting a new City Planner. The current head of the Planning Department has resigned to take a similar position in Somersworth, NH. This is her last week.

Although Shanna Saunders made an effort to improve the city from downtown to the Weirs there remains much work to be done. As has been said, the existing businesses, property owners, and topography present significant challenges and are an impediment to change.

It will be interesting to see if a new person in the position of City Planner will bring fresh ideas and a different perspective to the task. Improvements in the area will benefit everyone from visitors to property owners.

Lot of ideas for a 2 to 3 month season that only produces low end service jobs for a few months . Perhaps doing the incentives , which are tough with no sales or income tax to offset , for a manufacturing center or call center or anything that draws real year round ,better paying jobs would be the most appropriate action. How many carnival jobs at the beach do you want

Not sure how Moultonborough landed Crucon, but I think that's the type of thing you're talking about--year-round, well-paying jobs that will support something other than open land filled for one week/year.

When I was a kid, we'd summer across from the hotel in Weirs every summer and it was the place to be--in fact, other than Kellerhaus or Frankensundae, we never left the strip. What's changed? Competition?

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A teacher should never use "summer" as a verb, It's unbecoming.:D

I heard Fritz Weatherbee use the term "estivate" on Chronicle. That's a verb , I think. [emoji846]

The step beyond mastery is poetic license--you should be honored that I use it here. You're welcome, fellow lake wanderer!

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Then in the dictionary...
 

From dictionary.com :

verb (used without object) </HEADER>
10. to spend or pass the summer: They summered in Maine.

Does this mean you can't "summer" in NH? :eek::D

As long as no one says, "I summered on the vineyard" I can't really complain.