Ashland Raises Money for Ore Dock Amenities During 'Rock the Dock'

ASHLAND - Life-long residents in Ashland are pulling together to raise money for their cherished ore dock."We're hoping someday it might be a useful dock that we can have events on," said life-long Ashland resident and Rock the Dock coordinator, Jean Ames. Ashland's Rock the Dock fundraiser was started last year to show city officials people living in Ashland want to keep their ore dock. Saturday, the love continued as the community took part in the second annual Rock the Dock. It's the people who have lived in Ashland their entire lives who worked to save the base of the ore dock, and now that the dock is city property the community is using this year’s Rock the Dock as a celebration. "It's more of a feeling of relief that now we got to keep out base," said Pucky Nye with Rock the Dock. For people calling Ashland their home town, the ore dock is more than a piece of history."I grew up here,” Nye laughed. “I fished off of it, I swam off of it.""It's there it's our landmark,” said Ames.“It means a lot to everybody." In June the railroad handed the dock over to the city, and plans are in the works to open it back up."Be able to get back on it, do some more fishing, and take in some beautiful sunsets," said Ashland native and Rock the Dock coordinator, Don Jeskowiha. Everyone in town seems to have their own idea of what the old dock could become."We'd have a Ferris wheel; we'd have lights, fun stuff going on at night. We'd have little bands," Ames listed. It's going to take quite a bit of cash to make dreams a reality. When the railroad handed over the property they also gave the city $3 million to make structural repairs.At last year's Rock the Dock event, they made more than $25,000. This year they're hoping for the same. "What we want to do is buy amenities like park benches, bicycle racks, maybe some flower planters; things to beautify it," said Nye. The goal is to make this empty dock the next tourist destination so people are able to rock the dock for years to come. The ore dock it's still closed because of safety concerns. City officials hope to have it open to the community by the end of this year.