Rotary Club of Longview is celebrating its 100th year with a multimillion-dollar campaign to restore an outdoor recreation and entertainment venue at the city's largest public park.
The most ambitious project in the club's history, Rotary's fund drive aims to raise $3 million to $4 million to rebuild and expand Martin Dock, which is slowly sinking into the waters of Lake Sacajawea Park.
The project is expected to take at least two years to complete, relying on contributions from big donors, the public, and various grants.
Brian Magnuson [pictured above], the project leader, envisions a shoreline dock with a covered stage "that will last 100 years." It will include a boardwalk, a kayak launch, and a terraced natural amphitheater on the sloping lawn facing the dock.
Magnuson coined the term "Longview's living room" to underscore Martin Dock's importance to the community, which hosts weekly summer concerts, the annual Go 4th festival, and other year-round events. The amphitheater and surrounding lawns can accommodate several thousand spectators.
Magnuson and other Rotarians promoted the project at the July 2-4 lakeside festival near the dock site, displaying architectural drawings and seeking pledges for commemorative bricks being sold in the fund drive.
The original wooden dock for kids' fishing and community concerts was donated to the city by Rotarian Harry F. Martin in 1962 and became the catalyst for transforming then-scruffy Sacajawea Park into today's recreational jewel.
Martin, a Longview pioneer and moving company owner who lived across the street from the park, noticed that youngsters were slipping on the lake banks and could barely cast their fishing lines to the water.
His original platform -- 20 feet by 40 feet with a 3-foot railing -- was eventually replaced by a larger wooden-and-concrete dock built by the city. It's this second version with pilings in the lake and foundation in the marshy shore that is sagging into the water and needs replacement.
Long after the park was carved from a slough when the Longview townsite was diked in 1923, the sloping lake banks remained undeveloped -- weedy turf dotted with mole hills, dirt paths and reed-choked shorelines. Lake water was muddy and covered with algae. The only creature comforts were a few park benches set here and there for viewing wildlife.
Today's amenities -- including well-tended lawns and plantings, bike and walking paths, picnic tables and shelters, light poles, public restrooms and an authentic Japanese garden -- were years away when Martin decided to donate the dock.
After the 1963 dedication, The Longview Daily News called it the "first structural improvement on the shores of the 1 1/2-mile lake" since the town's founding. "It revives interest ... and makes it possible for this underused civic asset to be better utilized."
Martin Dock, as it came to be known, ignited public interest in upgrading the park. City agencies began allocating tax money for improvements and service clubs and private individuals chimed in with donations.
Maintained by the Parks and Recreation Dept., the 127-acre crescent with 3.5 miles of trails is a showplace for the community and tourist attraction. The arboretum around the lake has over 100 tree species, underlining Longview's Tree City USA designation. Rotary donated a giant sequoia to the collection for its 2026 centennial.
With Martin Dock deteriorating due to its watery location, the city sought state funds several years ago for a rebuild. When the application was turned down, Parks and Rec put out feelers for local help.
The Rotary Club of Longview, with 135 members, learned about the need and decided to take on the dock project as a major centennial gift to the city of 38,000.
For the centennial, the club also funded a Rotary Meeting Room for community use at the Longview Public Library -- a nearly $49,000 gift unveiled April 25 at the library's 100th birthday party. Magnuson also led that project.
