Segment 5: Growth on the Harbor

The postwar years were a time of continued growth for Lou Gardella and Rex Marine.

In 1948, Lou constructed a building over the water as a restaurant and gathering place for the boaters he had added a dock for. That property would later become part of another well-known chapter in the Gardella family story.

Beginning in the mid-1950’s, Norwalk Cove Marina was created on adjacent land purchased by Lou and his partners. What had been mostly dry land was literally dug out and transformed into the marina we know today.

When Lou built the adjacent Ascension Beach and Pool Club around 1960, the 1948 building became part of the club. ABP became a beloved and affordable summer destination enjoyed by thousands of families each year.

After excessive damage from Superstorm Sandy in 2012, the repairs needed became overwhelming, bringing 52 years of summer fun to an end. For the final 32 years, ABP was operated by Bill Gardella Sr. and his late wife, Mary Jane.

In March 1955, Rex Marine Basin became Rex Marine Center, Inc.

Around the same time, Lou modernized operations at Rex. He removed the old-style marine railway used to haul and launch boats and built a bulkhead and lift well to install the latest in boat handling technology, an Algonac rail-mounted electric boat lift.

It was safer, easier, and faster, and remained in service until it was replaced in 1985 with a 35-ton Acme straddle-type boat lift. Our current Marine Travelift replaced the Acme in 2020.

Around 1965, Lou expanded Rex once again, acquiring from the City of Norwalk a parcel he had previously been renting—an approximately 75-foot-wide strip of land running from Water Street to the harbor edge south of the first parcel bordering what is now Total Marine.

That acquisition created the current size of Rex Marine.

Lou never stopped improving, expanding, and building for the future.