Residents' boats would be as close as their cars, and the sparkling river beyond the marina seawall beckoned them the way it did sailors in nearby suburban communities. It was a dream not only for Wilson, but of his friend, then-Detroit Mayor Coleman Young.

Today, the parcel Wilson once hoped would bear his name has a less dazzling one — Riverside Marina — and no apartment tower. There are two banquet facilities, a pool, store, gas dock and 372 boat slips. But some customers say docks have fallen into disrepair, making many unusable.

As Detroit seeks to recover from a decadeslong decline, some of its assets, from Belle Isle to Eastern Market to selected parks, have benefited from more focused management dedicated to their improvement. But the city-owned marinas, which give city boaters access to the same water as other communities up and down the waterway, haven't done as well in private hands.

Under management since 2013 by a company with a contract up for renewal soon, patrons complain about a facility that city of Detroit officials acknowledge was once beleaguered, but now suggest is steadily improving.

Representatives of Riverside Marina didn't respond to calls for comment, and wouldn't allow Bridge onto the grounds, referring all inquiries to the city.

Mayoral spokesman John Roach forwarded a memo from the city's parks and recreation department that described how the marina's management company, ABC Professional Enterprises LLC, brought a nonfunctioning marina back from the brink, although Beverly Alexander, a department staffer, acknowledged that much of the memo was written by representatives of ABC Professional Enterprises.

Alexander said ABC Enterprises pays the city $62,000 to run the marina operations as a private business, plus another $22,000 for the smaller Erma Henderson Marina about a half-mile downriver.

"The past operator had an abrasive relationship with the city and concealed all of the operating challenges and walked out on the contract," the memo reads. No investment was made to the facility and "the city was unaware of the depth of the deterioration of the property."

Further, since ABC Professional Enterprises took over the marina, it has made substantial investments beyond what the contract required to make it operable, the memo states, describing $4 million in investment by the company, "as a commitment to the partnership and the vision of what it could be in the future." The memo describes a facility that is growing in membership, slip rental, clubhouse use and storage sales.

Much of this would be news to Felicia Coates-Page.

Coates-Page was a first-year boater last fall when she said she brought her 28-foot Bayliner to Riverside for heated winter storage. After having been quoted a price of $3,000 at a marina next door, she said she was pleasantly surprised to be quoted a far lower one at Riverside — $1,749, which she could reduce further by paying cash, which she did.

For $1,574.10, she said she expected her boat to be brought indoors and stored in a warehouse through the cold months. She said she had an emergency the day the boat was scheduled to be hauled out, but was told by marina staff that she didn't have to be present.

Coates-Page didn't return until March of this year, and said she found her boat sitting outdoors, where it had apparently been all winter, with no covering and no winterization. The freeze/thaw cycle had destroyed the engines and bilge pump, leaving it a total loss, she said.

She said an employee at Riverside initially promised to "take care" of Coates-Page. But the final resolution, she said, was an email from manager Brian McGuire, stating that the employee who made the agreement with Coates-Page was no longer employed there, that there was no contract on file and no payment was made. Coates-Page showed photographs of a contract and receipt, marked as paid, to Bridge.

Her insurance company eventually paid $15,000 for the loss of the engines, about half what she estimates the boat was worth. She signed the title over to the insurance company and spent the settlement on a new, larger boat, which, she said, she would be keeping at another marina.