Bill Gage,
Gage Marine,
ingenuitity,
Lake Delavan,
mahogany boat manufacturing,
marina,
Mother Nature,
new restaurant,
Pier 290,
China Instrument Parts,
reclaiming,
recycling,
restored wood,
Williams Bay,
Wisconsin,
year-round
Michael Reader
Wisconsin craftsmanship takes on a new challenge!
The Gage family has been serving the Lake Geneva boating community for three generations and now embark on another venture, Pier 290. With excursion boats based at the Riviera Docks in downtown Lake Geneva, boat service/sales in Williams Bay and Hwy. 50, and pier service around the lake, Bill and Rachel Gage set their sights on further complementing the boater experience.
Their vision was to remake the Williams Bay operations into more than just boating and fuel, but expanding into dining, refreshments and a comfortable place to unwind.
The vision must have been long in the making as the trove of memorabilia and repurposed pieces is impressive to the visitor. One foot through the door and your eyes are overwhelmed with the woodwork and creative use of old propellers and other pieces. Bill had salvaged many of these over the years, including classic woodwork from several of the old Lake Geneva mansions as the wrecking ball threatened to turn them into splinters.
Also salvaged before being torn down was butternut paneling from the “Reader House” at Lake Lawn Lodge in Delavan, and hand-hewn beams from one of the lodges. The master wood craftsmen with Gage Marine’s wood boat restoration team were challenged to bring all these old pieces of hardwood back to life, doing a fantastic job.
Another opportunity presented itself last year when a storm knocked down several old Black Walnut trees in the Kishwauketoe Nature Conservancy in Williams Bay. Always an opportunistic looking to turn lemons into lemonade, Bill saw this as flooring materials for the new restaurant. Here again, the Gage woodworking team set about transforming logs into flooring planks. Not the typical work for the skilled team of classic mahogany boat refinishers, but very successful nonetheless.
So check out Pier 290 and all the other great things Gage Marine has going on in Williams Bay and watch this great video by Bill Gage where he talks about his vision.
