  Lowell Board Administrator Username: Lowell Post Number: 4880 Registered: 10-2003 |
Interesting and I like it. Would be quite a face changer on the river front. "Detroit's $15 million effort to build a new public passenger ship terminal and dock will also see an additional $4 million to $5 million spent to construct an offshore wharf in the Detroit River." From this week's Crain's | ||
Motorcitydave Member Username: Motorcitydave Post Number: 134 Registered: 11-2004 |
Yeah.. I heard it should be open by spring of 2005... I can't wait!••• | ||
Johnlodge Member Username: Johnlodge Post Number: 7364 Registered: 10-2003 |
How does a Wharf help ships gain access to deeper water during times of low water levels? It sounds cool but I guess I don't understand. Does it mean ships can dock at the Wharf in the middle of the river, rather than coming near the sides? | ||
Irish_mafia Member Username: Irish_mafia Post Number: 1347 Registered: 10-2003 |
It must be shallower close to the shore JL | ||
Charlottepaul Member Username: Charlottepaul Post Number: 2578 Registered: 10-2006 |
Is this different from the Port Authority terminal or just an updated plan? | ||
Rugbyman Member Username: Rugbyman Post Number: 350 Registered: 06-2005 |
It's the same plan- I think I remember reading in the terminal materials that the wharf was intended as a phase II type of thing. Interesting they're going on with it before ground is broken on the terminal itself. | ||
Raptor56 Member Username: Raptor56 Post Number: 364 Registered: 05-2007 |
I thought the terminal was supposed to be finished by now. At least they finally opened up the fencing over there so we can walk from Heart Plaza to the Ren Cen without going back up to Jefferson. | ||
Douglasm Member Username: Douglasm Post Number: 1103 Registered: 10-2003 |
Well now, all we have to do is raise the SS North America from 400 feet of water off Nantucket Light, and we'd really have something..... | ||
Lmichigan Member Username: Lmichigan Post Number: 6073 Registered: 10-2003 |
Yes, I'm pretty sure this is a retread of the Port Authority project that is to get going near Hart Plaza. It's so strange to hear the river banks referred to as "shores". The Detroit River is fairly wide, but I'd hardly call the middle of the river "off-shore". | ||
Supersport Member Username: Supersport Post Number: 11817 Registered: 10-2003 |
Perhaps a picture slide show would be better, as some folks apparently can't comprehend the article. | ||
Sean_of_detroit Member Username: Sean_of_detroit Post Number: 969 Registered: 03-2008 |
Are Great Lake Cruises a good idea? I'm wondering what you guys think of them. There seems to be a lot of untapped potential there, or is tapped only by very small operations. Sand Dunes, Cedar Point, Bay City, Put-In-Bay, Mackinaw Island, Detroit/Windsor, and Chicago (just to name a few)... could they all be accessed by a larger vessel? It's a pretty "out there" idea. I know absolutely nothing about cruises, or even what is often attractive about some (Alaskan Cruises, other than wildlife, offer what?). I have heard they are popular in the Mediterranean, and have wondered why they wouldn't be popular in the Great Lakes though. That is all not to mention that all of those destinations are probably going to be hurt enough by a decrease in auto based tourism, to be open to other ideas. | ||
The_rock Member Username: The_rock Post Number: 2428 Registered: 11-2003 |
The terminal sounds good. Detroit must then market big-time to not only lure passenger boats in for the relatively short season, but to get them to berth here rather than in Windsor. The concept and thinking behind the "floating wharf" is one of the most impractical and outright dumb ideas to come out of the minds of so-called "civic leaders" in quite a spell. Ludicrous. Pardon the pun, but the wharf will never float. | ||
Retroit Member Username: Retroit Post Number: 267 Registered: 04-2008 |
I have a feeling this project is going to be as "shipless" as the artistic rendering in the article that is supposedly intended to convince us that this is such a great idea! | ||
Sean_of_detroit Member Username: Sean_of_detroit Post Number: 971 Registered: 03-2008 |
Actually, floating piers for most ports, are the new "thing". Most marinas have switched to a floating system. It is much, much cheaper, because you don't have to build and maintain in place. Portions can simply be replaced, or fixed out of the water. This actually is one of the smarter decisions around here, in my opinion. | ||
Charlottepaul Member Username: Charlottepaul Post Number: 2582 Registered: 10-2006 |
"Detroit must then market big-time to not only lure passenger boats in for the relatively short season, but to get them to berth here rather than in Windsor." Would it ever make sense to have boats just take people across the river to Canada? That was the impression of the use of the wharf that I was getting. | ||
Lmichigan Member Username: Lmichigan Post Number: 6076 Registered: 10-2003 |
I was under the impression from all that I've read over the years that this was primarily for Great Lakes cruises, not geared directly toward a more practical ferry service. BTW, why do some believe that adding an offcoast wharf irreparably harms the project? How is it that the ferry terminal is such a great idea, but adding an offcoast wharf ruin the entire project? At worst, I'd expect any addition to the terminal project to be viewed with ambivalence. |
