Beach Strip marina shelved, cost cited :celebrate
Fisherman's Pier plan to focus on land components
By John Burman
The Hamilton Spectator(Dec 7, 2005)
Don't count the Hamilton Port Authority out of the marina game just yet.
The authority has decided not to include a centrepiece marina facility in its Fisherman's Pier plans on the Beach Strip.
But authority chair Larry Russell said last night the board has not given up on having a marina elsewhere or at a later date.
The authority had planned for a 550-slip marina on the lake side of the Beach Strip near the canal but found it would cost more than $20 million for massive breakwalls because of the depth of the lake.
"The cost of the breakwater was a major concern" in the decision Nov. 28 to narrow the scope of the plans.
The lake side is still an attractive option for a marina but it would take "a great deal of work" to make it happen, he said.
The situation is similar to the spot Burlington city council found itself in early this year when costs of breakwaters scuttled plans for a fair-sized marina at the end of the Spencer Smith Park pier project
Russell said the other option, to put a marina on the bay side of the strip, was not attractive being beneath the two Burlington Skyway. It would also mean boaters headed for the lake would have to wait for the lift bridge as well.
"It wasn't a realistic option."
Russell said the authority remains committed to the Fisherman's Pier project, concentrating on the land components.
The project has completed one of three phases and reached a point where "we had to make choices, do we move ahead with the marina being the focal point or some land use facilities? And that's where we have gone."
But Russell stressed -- despite how the decision looked in a recent press release -- that the authority has not discounted a marina.
"It sounded final, there's no question.
"But it reflected the position we were in.
"We took a look and said 'no, let's stop at this point and look at other options.'"
Russell said Pier 8, on Hamilton's bayfront, is still an option for a marina some day. The authority is talking to the city about future use of the site.
"We still have an 11-year-lease there. We are not out of the marina business by any stretch of the imagination."
But the authority will not stand in the city's way if it has another viable option for Pier 8.
"(The authority) will not be obstructionist."
The focus on Fisherman's Pier is shifting to the land side, he said, and a marina portion is not on the table at this time.
What the authority will do now, is "renegotiate and rethink" the use of a marina at Pier 8.
Russell said the Fisherman's Pier plans were not intended as an either/or situation, moving everything to the Beach Strip and leaving nothing at Pier 8.
Pier 8 would still have had a reduced marina operation, he said.
The project now moves to stage two of the co-ordinated environmental assessment.
jburman@thespec.com
905-526-2469