Swiss Marine is located at 24 Duprey Street, formerly 7 Duprey Street. It was a successor of Moody Boat Livery from the 1970s. In the summer of 2020, it was for sale for $3.2 million.
Adirondack Daily Enterprise, July 29, 1994
Letters to the Editor
Swiss Marine owners, friends say thanks
In recollection of July 8, 1994, the date "Mother Nature" literally played 15 seconds of sheer terror with Saranac Lake, the community can be thankful that we survived the devastation and that no serious personal injuries or deaths occurred.
Remembering back to the summer of 1959, Saranac Lake was a quaint little community, where the local citizens of the area enjoyed the lifestyle of the Adirondack setting. The community's formal history reflected on picturesque lakeshore scenery. The lakeshore included multiple boathouses, both private and marina services such as Thomas's Boathouse & Livery, Baker's Boathouse & Livery, Newman's Boathouse, and Moody's Boathouse & Livery.
During the winter of 1959-60, Moody's Boathouse & Livery expanded and constructed a new 52-foot-by-210-foot boathouse. Local community tradesmen donated their time and efforts to build the structure, which, when completed, was a majestic sight and built like the Rock of Gibraltar. It was quiet [sic] evident that their devoted efforts were not in vain as the structure was capable of enduring the brutal elements, whether it be summer or winter, as we know here in the North Country.
As any local citizen now says, who would have imagined that on July 8, 1994, "Mother Nature" could have created such destruction in this quaint community, including the Swiss Marine boathouse structure (formerly Moody's) which had withstood her challenges since 1960.
As the community woke up on the morning of July 9, 1994, to visually realize the massive destruction created only 13 hours earlier, Swiss Marine's business was literally paralyzed. Upon the evaluation of the amount of time it would take to clean up the debris, it was estimated that it would take approximately three weeks to a month; thus, entailing unknown hours of effort by the business at the early part of their "prime" summer season.
Without a beckon call, customers, friends, local associates, and members of the community appeared at Swiss' with their own equipment, ready to go to work. Everyone contributed his or her time and effort in assisting the business with the cleanup. Local food vendors donated sandwiches, hot dogs and drinks to supplement the eager appetites of the volunteer workers. Amazingly, the cleanup of the debris was completed by 6 p.m. the same day, without the occurrence of any personal injury.
As members of the community and local business owners, we would like to extend our gratitude to each of the individuals who came to our aid when the monumental task was upon us. The volunteer efforts of all the people throughout the cleanup was a true reflection of the phrase "community spirit" in Saranac Lake.
Sincerely,
Jim Cochran
On behalf of the friends and owners of Swiss Marine Inc.
