The process for repairing a breakwall in Sodus Bay is underway.
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), visited the area this week, joining local residents, marina and business owners to say that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will begin reconstruction of the deteriorating breakwall this summer.
Schumer said that’s being done with the help of $20 million in federal funds, and he said it is the single largest infrastructure investment that has ever been done in Sodus Bay.
“For 90 years this break wall is crumbling so it looks like a piece of Swiss cheese, meaning (that) holes allow water to get through,” said Schumer, “and if we didn’t do something soon about it, the whole thing could collapse.”
Schumer said that the Sodus Bay East breakwall protects a number of homes and businesses in the village.
Sodus Point Mayor Dave McDowell said that the breakwall “is a key component of the protection needed by the village during high wind storm events.”
Schumer said that Great Sodus Bay is also a critical “harbor of refuge” and home to an auxiliary U.S. Coast Guard station.
The project to repair the more than 1,600 foot breakwall will take place over two construction seasons. Construction is scheduled to begin this August with completion expected by the fall of 2025.
