Although a new marina looks closer than ever to reality at Fort Stevenson State Park, construction isn't likely to start until late summer or early fall.

Conceived in 2004, the on-again, off-again marina project appears to have smoother sailing this time.

"The corps has committed to it out of its own budget," said Phil Brown, lake manager for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Garrison Project in Riverdale.

The cost will be approximately $10 million, Sen. Byron Dorgan's office has said. Dorgan, D-N.D., was instrumental in convincing the corps to fund the project in its budget. Previous, and unsuccessful, funding attempts had come from congressional add-on money.

The corps is rounding up funds piecemeal from other projects coast to coast to reach the $10 million, Brown said Thursday.

When the 2007 fiscal year budget is approved, there should be a line item of approximately $10 million for the Fort Stevenson marina, Brown said. In the interim, Congress has passed a continuing resolution to fund the government. April 11 is the latest target date for the new budget.

The cost of maintaining access at other ramps on Lake Sakakawea won't be impacted by the Fort Stevenson project, Brown added.

Permits and clearances for the new marina should be on hold from previous attempts to fund construction, said Dick Messerly, the superintendent at Fort Stevenson State Park.

"Ithink they can be reactivated," he said Thursday. "We had gone through the whole process because we thought the funding was coming down before."

Still needed is the final plan for the marina, which will be done in the corps' Omaha, Neb., office. Then will come putting out the contract for bids, which also will be handled through Omaha.

"Five months to get done. I think it's excellent if we move along at that pace," said Messerly. "There's no reason we shouldn't, but, as we all know, there can be a glitch along the way."

Fort Stevenson's present marina, which has been out of commission because of continuing drought and low water levels on Lake Sakakawea, is in De Trobriand Bay. It became operational in 1983 and has not been usable for about half the time it has been open, said Messerly.

The new marina will go into Garrison Bay and have a bottom elevation of 1,790 feet.

Based on the construction timetable for a $5 million marina, work should take take nine months to a year, Messerly said.

"Build a cofferdam, dig out the basin, breakwaters, riprap, anchors for the docking system. A lot depends on the weather and the level of the lake. It's down to 1,807. There's a lot less of cofferdam at this level than if the lake is 10 feet higher."

(Reach outdoor writer Richard Hinton at 250-8256 or richard.hinton@;bismarcktribune.com.)