Sapphire Bay Marina (SBM) has been a fixture for boating enthusiasts in the Dallas, Texas area since the 1970’s. The current ownership purchased the marina in August of 2019, inheriting a list of significant changes that were ongoing due to the sale of the property between the city of Dallas and Rowlett, TX.
On the morning of March 17, 2021, a major windstorm left the near capacity marina marred with destruction. Sixteen of the seventeen dock houses were severely damaged or unusable. While the store and gangway were still standing from the event, the entire marina was dislodged. The workers of SBM immediately got into rental boats to rescue people in the dock houses. Thankfully, there was no one hurt from the storm. The power was cut from the marina once they realized an electric line was ripped from a dock house. The extensive damage was assessed by engineers for more than a month. SBM was then declared a danger zone by the Dallas Water Authority. The docks were stabilized within 30 days of the storm. In a mere 60 days after the storm, the insurance had been settled and a massive amount of work had been completed.
Shortly after the storm the SBM partners decided to reconfigure the marina layout to make it more efficient and inviting – Meeco Sullivan drafted the plans and worked closely with the ownership group on design, changes and an arduous approval process with multiple entities. The new plans led to SBM’s second order with Meeco Sullivan on May 27, 2021. The new docks featured paver decking and Meeco steel frames. Of the seventeen docks, fourteen are covered and three are sailboat docks.
Today, the lakeside project includes the 1000+ modern slip marina, boat rental center, Marine Max on-the-water boat brokerage and a future outdoor complex and parking area. It’s part of an exclusive 1.5 Billion water resort playground development called Sapphire Bay.
Even in the wake of destruction SBM was still providing top tier customer service. The slip holders were not charged rent for over eight months and the staff was also shuttling customers to their boats to be able to use the lake. With there being no electricity on the water, SBM also purchased generators to keep boat’s bilge pumps running. A true customer centric marina!
Meeco Sullivan is proud of the partnership with Sapphire Bay Marina and would like to congratulate them on all their determination in the face of the extreme storm, both literally and figuratively. Congratulations on being awarded the “Marina of the Year “ by the Marina Association of Texas! We look forward to our future endeavors with SBM.
