One of East Boothbay’s legendary boatyards hosted more than 60 members of the Boothbay Region Chamber of Commerce September 11 for a “Business After Hours” event.

The evening event gave Frank Luke, the top executive at the famed Paul E. Luke yard, a chance to show off a new boat storage building.

The yard, which has built, repaired and stored classic yachts at their Linekin Bay facility in East Boothbay for the last 75 years, will now be able to offer their customers inside winter storage.

The storage facility is a 5,000 square foot structure made using a galvanized pipe frame covered in a special fabric. Rubb Building Systems of Sanford built the structure.

Luke said the building is designed to house about 10 boats. A large overhead door is big enough to accommodate his Travel Lift that plucks boats out of the water and transports them to a storage location. Inside storage will allow the yard’s craftsmen to work on boats in the winter.

Because the structure is tucked under the brow of a  granite ledge that is part of the Route 96 landmark called “Thrill Hill,” it will escape much of the wind, Luke said.

“It is guaranteed to stand up to a 109 miles per hour wind for 90 seconds. I think we will be just fine,” Luke said.