Floating Restaurant To Provide Unique Experience At Keystone Lake

A much anticipated addition on one Green Country lake broke ground Thursday. A unique development is now under construction on Keystone Lake in Mannford.

On the first day of spring, the boat ramps at Keystone Lake were already busy.

"I fish every night of the week after work," said fisherman Mike Klonowski.

Klonowski has been fishing Keystone for three years now, and has seen the changes.

"There wasn't much here, just a small dock down there, and now it's like ballooned into a big dock system down there," Klonowski said.

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The Harbor Marina opened to boaters last summer with 130 slips. But that's just the tip of the iceberg as far as development is concerned.

"The old line, we'll build it if they'll come and they keep coming, so we're gonna keep building," Harbor at CrossTimbers Developer, Ron Howell.

Howell is the man with the plan. He remembers when the lake was built in the 60s and its promise to catapult the area into a tourist destination.

"I have a lot of memories of coming out here the first summer that Keystone was open, so it's real rewarding now to put what will be the finest restaurant on this lake," Howell said.

Howell is exclusively showing us, for the first time, renderings for his 4,000 square foot floating bar and grill. Skipper's Landing will be on bottom, then up top, the Upper Deck.

5/27/2013 Related Story: Memorial Day Boaters Check Out New Multi-Million Dollar Keystone Marina

It's a similar concept to his $20 million CrossTimbers development on Skiatook Lake, only on Keystone Lake, the restaurant will be on the water.

"We're real excited with the restaurant that we're gonna bring that same high quality, and a lot of the popular features that I think will make this lake finally blossom, like people predicted back in the 1960s," Howell said.

Up on shore, workers are moving dirt to make way for up to 30 Rental Cottages. And next to them, if you're feeling nostalgic, you can book a vintage vacation getaway, and stay right on the lake in newly remodeled Airstream camper.

"These are plush, but not plush prices," said Howell.

To rent one of the cottages or air stream trailers, it'll cost between $100 to $160 a night.

As for the completion date, we're told the cottages should be ready by Memorial Day, and at least part of the restaurant is expected to open up sometime in June.