The Cove Palisades State Park, along the shores of Lake Billy Chinook outside of Culver, is the second most-visited state park east of the Cascades. And this year, for the first time since the park’s marina was turned over to private management in 1991, it will have a new concessionaire.

Cove Palisades Resort Inc. won the concession in bidding late last year to take over operation of the 140-slip marina and store.

The company is owned by Gary Popp, a Crooked River Ranch businessman who also owns Lake Billy Chinook Houseboats, a separate Redmond-based company that rents houseboats from a dock next to Three Rivers Marina along the lake’s Metolius arm.

Stand along the lake’s shore and it’s not hard to figure out why the lake is so popular: More than 72 miles of shoreline, 4,000 surface acres of water and stunning vistas framed by towering cliffs of lava rock.

“This is Oregon’s Lake Powell,” said Brett Davies, the manager of Cove Palisades Resort, referring to the giant reservoir in the redrock country along the border of Utah and Arizona.

Like Lake Powell, Lake Billy Chinook also is known for houseboating. In fact, it’s practically the only place in Oregon to rent a houseboat, according to the state’s Parks and Recreation Department.

But the lake is also a mecca for campers, anglers and water sports enthusiasts, many of whom come from outside Central Oregon, said Holli Van Wert, executive director of the Madras-Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce.

“We’ve never studied the economic impact of the lake on the county, but were it to dry up tomorrow, it would be extremely damaging financially,” Van Wert said.

Getting prepared to serve many of the daily visitors to the park — there were 500,000 in 2009, according to the state Parks and Recreation Department — is Cove Palisades Resort, which plans to make some changes to the marina.

Popp was unavailable for comment last week, but Davies said he and Popp have a vision for the park’s marina that includes expanded amenities and some novelties, such as “boat-up pizza.”

“Where have you heard of that?” asked Davies excitedly, saying boaters will be able to call the cafe in the marina’s store to order pizza and then pull up to the marina to pick it up.

“We had some ideas to make the marina more pleasurable, to add to the boating experience, and (bidding on the concession) was just a great opportunity to reach more people,” Davies said.

The new concessionaire will sell gas and rent houseboats and pontoon boats just as the previous one did, but Davies said there will be some new rental items at the marina this year, including luxury houseboats with hot tubs and water slides, wave runners, towable water toys and a motorized “island” that allows up to 15 people to board and includes parking for two wave runners.

“You can take it out on the lake and two people can use the wave runners, then come in and park them and two more can go out,” Davies said. “It’s stuff like that where we thought we could make (the marina) a more complete experience.”

Popp will continue to rent houseboats through his other company at the Three Rivers location, Davies said.

The Cove Palisades marina — which is just north of the park’s day-use area — also includes picnic grounds, a boathouse and a large sun deck wrapped around a 2,400-square-foot convenience store. The store includes a cafe and will have a wireless Internet connection for customers.

The marina’s slips are available for rental on a short- or long-term basis. Boating season began April 1 and runs through Oct. 31.

Davies, who also helps manage Lake Billy Chinook Houseboats, said the recession hurt recreation spending in 2008 and 2009, but he’s encouraged by the number of phone calls both businesses have been receiving this year.

“The phone’s been ringing pretty good, so it looks like it will be an exciting summer,” Davies said. “It’s recreation. People seem to always find a way to do that.”

Popp’s newly formed Cove Palisades Resort outbid the marina’s former concessionaire, The Cove Palisades Restaurant and Marina Inc., which had managed the marina since 1991. The Cove Palisades Restaurant and Marina was owned by Jim Cyr, who became a partner in the company in 1999 and assumed full ownership in 2000.

The concession is for five years. Per Popp’s winning bid, he will pay the state 3.5 percent of his company’s gross sales in addition to an annual fee of $60,000.

Cyr’s bid was for $60,000 plus 2 percent of gross sales, according to Chris Havel, with the Parks and Recreation Department.

In 2009, the concession yielded the state $70,195, which was up 10 percent from the $63,800 received in 2008, Havel said.

Oh, and in case you were wondering: The most-popular state park east of the Cascades? Bend’s Pilot Butte State Scenic Viewpoint, according to the Parks and Recreation Department.