Lake "X" is Closing ????
 

I was told today Lake X is closing is this true? Wardey

I don't believe they will be able to renew the lease when it expires. The owner of the land is being pressured by the city not to resign while making a generous offer. I hear Merc might be building a new facility somewhere in the FL Panhandle.

That would be a darn shame. So much HISTORY there.:(

Yes, so much history but a new chapter will soon begin and not to mention a wider weather window (more moderate climate) for conducting R&D...

By IBI Magazine / Michael Verdon

Mercury Marine, which sold its Mercabo saltwater testing facility last year and is now on a short-term lease on the property, hopes to build a new facility in northern Florida outside of Pensacola. The company will participate in hearings next Monday to gauge public reaction.
"We haven't done anything on the property," said Tom Mielke, Mercury's director of public relations. "The process is just now starting. I would hate to guess how long it might take to complete it." Mielke says the facility will require permits from the department of environmental protection in Florida as well as local county authorities.

"There are a lot of interest groups and environmental concerns within the Pensacola community," he said. "We want to make sure whatever we build will be compliant not just now, but also harmonious with regulations and local moods in the future." Mielke added that Mercury is "looking to start in a place where it's a little more favorable to our testing and not a lot of residential property nearby." Neither was the case in Mercabo, where the coastline surrounding Mercabo steadily developed over the past 20 years. Once the new facility is complete, it will complement the existing Lake X testing facility in central Florida, where Mercury tests its freshwater, racing and high-performance products. A local newspaper reported that the facility would create 35 new jobs and have an annual economic impact of about US$1.5 million, but Mielke said that figure would be difficult to gauge until the center is up and running.

©International Boat Industry IBI


------------------------

This article is from 04-05-02, so it's a bit out of date...However, the new facility is probably going to be near Pensacola, if the enviros can be pleased.

Well at least they can get back to doing R&D. That is what that lake was intended for. Seems like now anyone who buys a boat can go get it "Dialed in at Lake X." :rolleyes: :rolleyes: There are more stock boats out there cluttering it up than race boats these days. :(

I wonder how much it will add to the price of your boat when they have to tow it 1200 miles to dial it in, instead of 125 miles.

For most builder's anyway that are in South florida. I'am sure Outerlimits is happy.



What they do find a Manatee in Lake X ?

That press release didn't say Lake-X was closing.
They talked about the "Mercabo" facility and that the new one would provide salt water testing and "Once the new facility is complete, it will complement the existing Lake X testing facility in central Florida, where Mercury tests its freshwater, racing and high-performance products".

That is EXACTLY what I read Iggy!

I only wish I (We, Gordo and I) would have taken up the offer to go to "Lake X" and do so testing after the worlds in 1999, but we were both short on time and had to return home....I was hoping to get the chance someday...............