The on again off again proposed new commercial marina at Rowena Landing on Lake Cumberland, is “on again” according to notice issued last week by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

With this latest announcement that was dated May 8, 2015 and issued from the Nashville District office of the COE, the size of the proposed facility has also apparently grown more than two-fold from it’s original plan that was initially 162 acres, including 48 acres of water and 114 acres of land.

Last week’s announcement notes that the proposed facility, which will be referred to officially as the Watauga location, now is made up of 353 acres of land and an additional 54 acres of water for a total project size of 407 acres.

According to the notice, the new facility, if the project should ever come to be, would likely include, but not necessarily be limited to, a marina, fuel dock, restaurant and wastewater disposal facility.

Located at the end of Hwy. 558, most of the new facility’s acreage is actually located in neighboring Russell County, Kentucky.

However, access to the site by land can only be made by driving through Clinton County on Hwy. 558 to reach the area which includes what is now known as Rowena Landing, a popular boat launching site and swimming area used almost exclusively by local residents.

Currently, the area is completely undeveloped and is only a road – Hwy. 558 – that leads into Lake Cumberland, about 15 miles north of Albany and about one-half mile across the Clinton County and Russell County line.

Plans to investigate the possibility of locating a new commercial marina were first announced in August, 2010.

In January 2012, the Clinton County News reported that the Corps had announced it was soliciting proposals for the new marina and would be accepting lease applications for the development and operation that was then referred to as Rowena Landing South.

When that announcement was made, the Corps noted that should a proposal be accepted, the commercial concession lease would have been awarded by April 1, 2013.

When that April 1, 2013 date came and went without any action regarding the proposed new marina being taken, the project sat in limbo until January, 2014, when the Corps announced it was placing the project on “indefinite hold”, noting at that time that it could reassess the requirements of the Notice of Availability and move forward in the future.

According to last week’s announcement, the Corps is now seeking comments concerning the potential environmental and social issues that should be addressed in the course of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and also issues surrounding the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966.

Anyone wishing to submit comments about the proposed project, may do so within 30 days of the May 8, 2015 notice.

Comments may be written to: Department of the Army, Nashville District, Corps of Engineers, P.O. Box 1070, Nashville, Tennessee 37202-1070.

Email comments may be made to: CorpsLRNPlanningPublicCom@usace.army.mil

There was no indication given in this latest round of developments as to a time frame that would surround the next announcement regarding the proposed marina project.