Branson Landing Marina to open in September

Marina to open in September Construction work at Gage's Branson Landing Marina & Shoppes is expected to be completely finished by next spring. BDN photo by Brandon Cone By Brandon Cone BDN Staff Writer bcone@bransondailynews.com Cruises up and down Lake Taneycomo will be making a return in a few months. Rhonda Hartzell, director of marketing for Gage's Branson Landing Marina & Shoppes, said the first cruises will set off by mid-September in the paddle-wheeler, christened the Branson Lake Queen. "That will be our soft opening," Hartzell said. "We're going to begin opening in sections, so there will be more to come." The new Lake Queen is named so to pay respect to the original Lake Queen, which was a major attraction on Taneycomo in the 1950s, '60s and '70s. "Those cruises were originally started in the '50s by (Gage's Branson Landing Marina & Shoppes owners James and Justin Gage's) grandfather Fred Stewart," Hartzell said. A second boat, Branson's Landing Princess, will begin giving cruises of the waterway as well in November. Hartzell said visitors will have an opportunity to take one of two cruises on both boat. One cruise will last one hour and the other will last an hour and 45 minutes to two hours. She said both cruises will start at the marina, which is currently under construction, and go south past the Branson Landing Fountains, turn around just before the Taneycomo Bridge and head north up the waterway. "The longer of the two tours will go to Rockaway Beach, which is where the original Lake Queen went," Hartzell said. The original Lake Queen will also have a part in the marina and shopping center as well. "After it is finished being restored, she will be floated down the Lake for the last time and made the centerpiece of the marina," Hartzell said. She said inside the original Lake Queen will be exhibits paying homage to the original sight-seeing tours on Lake Taneycomo. The marina, when complete will also feature retail shops such as a Ben and Jerry's ice cream parlor, a Denny's Harley Davidson shop and a Shorty Smalls restaurant and pub, which will have a unique menu from its other Branson location. A 300-seat banquet room known as the Fountain Room and 18 boat slips will also be on the marina. The Fountain Room as well as space on both the new Branson's Lake Queen and yacht will be available to rent for private receptions, and customers will be able to rent pontoons at the marina. Shorty Smalls is slated to open by the 2007 Christmas holiday season, and the marina is planned to be in full operation by spring 2008. Source