Gold Star Marine, a full-service boat shop located at the Port Townsend Boat Haven, closed its doors on Friday, Oct. 2.
The business occupied three buildings, totaling 19,000 square feet, leased …
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Doug Bolling gets in his truck to leave Gold Star Marine at the Port of Port Townsend Boat Haven on Oct. 12. The business's last day of operation was Friday, Oct. 2, and the three buildings, totaling 19,000 square feet, are now for rent. Bolling, Gold Star's service manager, had worked there for 16 years. "Something will come along. It always does," he said. Photo by Robin Dudley
Gold Star Marine, a full-service boat shop located at the Port Townsend Boat Haven, closed its doors on Friday, Oct. 2.
The business occupied three buildings, totaling 19,000 square feet, leased from the port for $9,200 per month, said Jim Pivarnik, the port district's deputy director. With leaseholders' tax, Gold Star's rent was "a little over $10,000 per month," Pivarnik said.
"It's a very popular space," and the port is talking to three different companies that are interested in renting it, Pivarnik said, adding that it is zoned for marine trades business, as it's located right on the waterfront by the two haul-out piers. Two of the interested companies are local, already operate within the port and are seeking to expand; one is from out of the area, he said.
Jim Heckmann and his wife, Karen Ridings, moved from Iowa and took over the business in March 2014 from Jerry Wentworth, who sold the business to retire.
Pivarnik expects Gold Star to vacate the property by Nov. 1. "I really feel bad for the Heckmanns," he noted. "They were really great people. It's too bad their business plan didn't work."
The property is composed of three buildings, all joined by walkways, Pivarnik said. One building has offices and a small shop space; the middle one is "big – our 70-ton Travelift can go in there," he said, and the third building is entered from the shipyard side.
Gold Star's closing could have a "huge impact on the port, because no one else serviced the customer base that they did ... medium-sized fiberglass boats," Pivarnik said. "It's going to leave a hole in the port to fill."
Doug Bolling, service manager at Gold Star, had worked at that location for 16 years. He said Heckmann "changed everything" about how the business operated.
Bolling said there were eight employees, and "maybe up to 15 or 16" in years past.
"[Gold Star] accounted for 8 percent of the haul outs" at Boat Haven, Bolling said. "There'll be a bit of an impact, but it always kind of recovers."
He said it's the "wrong time of year to go looking for a job in the boatyard," but seemed optimistic about his prospects. "Something will come along. It always does."
