There's breathing room now for people who visit and use Guilford Lake in Columbiana County. Plans for construction on the Guilford Lake dam have been delayed until fall of 2025.

With the summer being the busiest time for businesses surrounding Guilford Lake, they are worried what will happen once construction starts at the dam.

"You know the summertime is beautiful, the place is backed," said Bobbie Ieropoli, Co-owner of Mark's Landing.

With construction of the dam being delayed by a year, tourists will have one more summer to use the lake before water levels are reduced. Nearby businesses were sent a letter, saying there will be no drawdown during the summer of 2025. The letter went on to say the Ohio Department of Natural Resources is exploring options to complete construction within one recreation season if possible.

Although nearby business owners are happy to have another summer before the construction, they are still concerned about losing visitors once construction is underway.

"They're boating. They're fishing. Without boating and fishing, there's going to be no tourists around here at all, so sales will be impacted by 30-40 percent for the whole year," said Kevin May, Owner of Kevin's Korner.

May said he also wishes there was more communication regarding the project and the construction process.

"Time is just time. What’s the right thing to do, what’s the process? Are there alternatives? You know, there are people who are going to be impacted, whether its local or residential, or businesses," said May.

In addition to dining, Mark's Landing offers boat rentals and a house rental. Ieropoli is afraid construction will cause a huge loss for her businesses.

"It's like oh no, what are we going to do? We have three businesses, that's our livelihood," said Ieropoli.

The dam was originally constructed in 1846 as a feeder reservoir for the Sandy Beaver Canal. The dam does not meet current safety standards, including insufficient capacity to safely pass the Probable Maximum Flood (PMF).

James Hilovsky, team lead with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Engineering, said the Guildford Lake dam construction will fix issues with capacity of the current spillway and seepage through the dam embankments.

"With Guilford Lake being a class one dam, there is a probable loss of live if it were to fail," said Hilovsky.

Construction is expected to start fall of 2025, and finish spring of 2027.