photo by: Courtesy of Clinton Marina

Construction on the new service center at Clinton Marina is pictured in this undated photo. The service center's framing work is mostly done.

Boaters at Clinton Lake who need maintenance or repairs will soon be able to get them done without leaving the marina at a new service center that’s currently under construction.

Work on the Clinton Marina service center began earlier this month, and the exterior is expected to be finished in a matter of weeks, said Christian Ford, the employee who will manage it. Once it’s complete, it will have six bays for oil changes, other routine maintenance and bigger jobs such as engine repairs or engine swaps, he said.

“We are putting in what we hope to be the premier marine service center in Kansas,” Ford said.

Lilly Kobach-Hickman, the marina’s marketing director, told the Journal-World on Wednesday that it was important to offer these services on site, because “getting outside and getting on the lake is already such a hassle.” The idea was to “make it seamless, as streamlined as possible” for boat owners to get their craft fixed, she said.

“If you have a boat, we want to make it as convenient as possible, and we want to have the service center for you,” Kobach-Hickman said.

photo by: Courtesy of Clinton Marina

Construction on the new service center at Clinton Marina is pictured in this undated photo.

Ford said that in addition to repair jobs, the service center will also sell electronics and rigging for boats, and it will handle winterization services, too. The marina already offers those to boaters who rent its slips, but the service center will let it expand its winterization offerings to all boat owners, Ford said. (The marina is taking winterization orders now on its website, clintonmarina.com.)

The building’s “skeleton” is already up, and the exterior work is expected to be done by the first or second week of October, Ford said: “We’re just waiting on entries to get framed and enclosed, such as windows and doors, and then our siding and our roof to get put on.”

In the meantime, though, the marina has already started taking some work orders. Ford said that since the start of August, there had been more than 50 orders, and most had already been completed.

“There’s been quite a bit of interest,” Ford said.

The service center is the latest in a string of recent additions to the marina’s offerings. In the past few years, as the Journal-World reported, the marina has added a boat-sharing club, a waterfront bar with an outdoor patio, and self-serve kayak and paddleboard rentals. It’s also increased the number of slips for boats and added solar power on the roof of the dock. And, in 2025, it was named the best large marina in the country by the industry magazine Marina Dock Age.

Kobach-Hickman said the marina had been trying to become an “all-in-one stop” for those who own boats and those who don’t. She said the goal was to make it easier for everyone to get out on the lake.

“We’re really just trying to make it where there’s something for everyone,” she said. “If anyone is at all interested in enjoying the lake, we are trying to make that just as convenient as possible, everything here, kind of a one-stop shop to just invite people to get on Clinton Lake and enjoy being outside.”

photo by: Courtesy of Clinton Marina

Construction on the new service center at Clinton Marina is pictured in this undated photo.