OBSERVER Photo by Braden Carmen Peter Smith is buying the Chadwick Bay Marina from Charles Pringle. The sale includes the assets, membership interests and assumptions of the lease.

There’s a new owner for the Chadwick Bay Marina in Dunkirk.

During the Chautauqua County Industrial Development Agency meeting, it was announced that Peter Smith was purchasing the assets, membership interests and assumptions of the lease of the Dunkirk marina, with the consent of the county IDA.

“We’ve had many conversations with him and the city. We feel comfortable that Mr. Smith will step into this role and do good things at the Marina,” said Mark Geese, director and chief executive officer for the county IDA.

Vince DeJoy, development director for the city of Dunkirk, was in attendance at the IDA meeting and read a letter from Mayor Wilfred Rosa, expressing support for Smith’s ownership.

In the letter, DeJoy noted how the state has awarded the city of Dunkirk a $10 million Downtown Revitalization Initiative grant. “The centerpiece of our DRI efforts will be waterfronts and improvements. A critical part of our waterfront development will be the potential and promises presented by Mr. Smith’s assumption of the whole of Chadwick Bay Maria LLC’s assets, obligations, including overseeing and operating the city of Dunkirk marina and taking possession of critically valuable real property on the west side of the Dunkirk harbor,” he said.

The county unanimously IDA approved the consenting resolution, transferring the ownership from Charles Pringle to Smith. No other changes in the agreements was made.

Pringle had taken ownership of the maria in 2016 from Jeff Gambino.