Sioux City council members voted 4–1 to authorise a property management agreement between the city of Sioux City and F3 Marina. The agreement officially began on Tuesday, 1 April 2025, and will run until 31 January 2028.
The marina’s closure in the summer 2024 impacted many businesses, including those in the boating industry.
Russell Hodges, owner of Cimmarina Boats, shared how the shutdown affected his operations. “Had a huge impact on us, on sales and service, boat people not using them and people just not buying because they didn’t really have an opportunity to use them, so that was huge,” Hodges said. “I just feel everybody is a little bit enlightened, just the fact that it is going to open, so it’s positive, it’s a positive move. So, I just hope they do a great job, which I’m expecting they probably will.”
Sioux City residents and boaters expressed enthusiasm for the marina's reopening.
“I’m pretty excited about it,” stated local boater Dan Norton. “You know, going last year without having any boat access down there. This is going to be pretty good. I read good things about them, looked them up. I think it’ll be great having somebody new down there. The previous owners were kind of letting it go downhill a little bit and didn’t seem to care about it as much, so I was pretty excited.”
F3 Marina President John Matheson highlighted the company’s thoughtful approach to expansion.
“We’re not trying to be the biggest out there,” Matheson said. “We’re trying to be the best, and every single marina that we take on, we want to be able to feel comfortable that we can serve a purpose there and move it forward. We don’t take something on that we feel that we’re not going to be able to meet expectations or see a pathway to improve it. In here, we could.”
According to the director of the city’s Parks and Recreation Department, Matt Salvatore, the priority for 2025 is to bring boaters back to the marina.
“For this first year, we want to just get people back in the marina, get them back to using their boats and having fun, enjoying the river,” Salvatore said. “So, I would say inflationary increases this first year, and then we’ll just kind of see what the market dictates after that.”
Boaters have cited inconsistent fuel access as a major issue in the past.
Salvatore addressed the concern by stating, “We’re going to have regular hours of operation, and we are also looking into having automated payment options so that even if somebody isn’t there, you’ll be able to access gas 24/7.”
Matheson acknowledged the complexities of managing a river marina but reaffirmed that the team is prepared.
“There’s a lot of challenges in running a marina on a river because of the fluctuating water levels, and the potential for things that have happened that could have happened in the Sioux City Marina over the years, by understanding those, anticipating them and being ready to deal with them, that will reduce the chances of those occurring in the future,” Matheson said.
The docking area is expected to open by Memorial Day, marking a new chapter for boating in Sioux City.
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