Retiring Aspinwall marina owner grew up with river
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David Kushon, the owner of the Aspinwall Marina.
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David Kushon was a kid when his father bought the marina in Aspinwall. It was 1959 and the river was slick with oil and sludge. Yet boaters had a haven there, and the lifestyle grew on the boy as he learned the ropes.
After his father died in 1971, he was tied up for 40 years, in season and off, always on call, always having something to take care of and customers to satisfy.
"It's time for me to take a break," Mr. Kushon said. "I'd like to travel and see some of this country."
Today, the river is cleaner and the 8-acre property is a month away from belonging to Friends of the Riverfront, if its fundraising advocates can raise $256,000 by Sept. 1.
Mr. Kushon put the property on the market three years ago and has considered several would-be buyers but gave his blessings to the plan for a public waterfront park at the beginning of the year and gave the fundraising effort eight months to come up with his asking price of $2.3 million.
Last summer, Susan Crookston, a mother of three, spearheaded a plan to create a public amenity on the land around the arena that would also be a link in an 18-municipality trail connection. Her fundraising is contributing to the purchase, for which Friends of the Riverfront expects county, state and federal help.
"Can you imagine how beautiful it will look once it's opened up" to Freeport Road? Mr. Kushon said. "What an eyecatcher."
Hidden behind foliage and an elevated railroad, "it has been the best kept secret around here," he said. As a public riverfront park, "it will be something everyone can benefit from."
He said he hopes to have a consulting role if the land becomes a public park. "I'll be here to help and advise and do whatever they need," he said.
Just as he was raised on the water, he and his wife Janie raised four daughters, now all grown, at the marina. They grew up in a house Mr. Kushon had built on the property in 1984.
Anticipating the sale, Mr. Kushon and his wife moved to Buffalo Township a year and a half ago, leaving a six-bedroom house that Ms. Crookston said could become a revenue source, maybe as an inn. The clubhouse could be turned into a restaurant. There is already a pool on the grounds that lies along a migratory bird route.
First Published July 28, 2011 5:30 am
