The Fish and Boat Commission is set to receive $1.35 million in federal funding through the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Boating Infrastructure Grant program. BIG provides federal funds for projects designed to accommodate transient, recreational motorboats that are 26 feet or longer.

The BIG funds awarded to the Fish and Boat Commission will be used to construct transient boat docks along the South Shore Riverfront Park in Pittsburgh. The facility will consist of a 525-foot tie-up facility for transient boaters and day dockage uses for up to 17 large, non-trailerable boats.

“This is the first time the Fish and Boat Commission was successful in securing federal funding of this magnitude through the nationally competitive part of the BIG program,” Fish and Boat Commission Executive Director Dr. Douglas Austen said. “It’s a very good project for Pennsylvania’s boating program that will positively impact tourism and local economic activity in the Pittsburgh area for years.”

The BIG funding provided for the South Shore Riverfront Park project is just a small part of a larger multi-million dollar redevelopment effort by the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh.

2/29/2008