Voyage begins for cruise stop
Gloucester terminal opens tomorrow
GLOUCESTER -- Ask anyone who makes a living down by the docks at Gloucester Harbor and they'll say its been a rough couple of decades. The government has tried to rebuild fish stocks -- such as cod and flounder -- and federal regulations have cut fishermen's days at sea to just a couple of dozen a year.
Throw in rising fuel and insurance prices, a glut of boats for sale, and a dangerous business that attracts few young people, and you've got a quiet harbor where fewer and fewer people are making paychecks.
Frank Elliott wants to change that. He and a group of investors have put up $7 million to help revitalize Gloucester Harbor. Tomorrow, he'll open the 16,000-square-foot Cruiseport Gloucester Marine Terminal that will welcome tourists to the North Shore's first cruise terminal.
"It realizes my dream of maintaining public marine access to Gloucester Harbor and it is helping Gloucester become the center for cultural tourism north of Boston," said Elliott, a Gloucester native who began offering his 2.25-acre property to the cruise industry six years ago.
Over that time period, cruise lines such as Holland America and Seabourn have brought tourists to his dock, where a tent served as a terminal and waiting area. Now, visitors will enter Gloucester through a state-of-the-art terminal, complete with restaurants, plasma TVs, a large waiting area, and a ballroom and function hall on the top floor overlooking the harbor. If they're arriving from another country, visitors will go through customs at the terminal's Department of Homeland Security section. The terminal area also includes a 200-car parking lot.
The opening will be marked by a three-day celebration, and will feature a reunion of the Pousette-Dart Band on Saturday. Proceeds from the events will go toward the restoration of the schooner, Adventure, and to the Society for the Encouragement of the Arts.
In addition to creating 30 new jobs, the terminal also will provide substantial tax revenue to the city, which has weathered several budget crises over the last five years. Last month, residents rejected a tax increase that would have funded the Sawyer Free Library expansion and renovation. The Fuller Elementary School is being closed, and since 2002, the school district has had to cut 50 teachers.
Peter Van Ness, the spokesman for Elliott's company, said he expects five cruise ships to use the new terminal this year. While the company has modest expectations to start, hosting fewer than a dozen boats a year that have about 200 passengers each, Van Ness said the company is negotiating with other cruise lines that could bring up to 2,500 passengers at a time to Gloucester for day trips.
Van Ness said the terminal could attract dozens of boats a year by 2012. "The goal is to have a cruise ship each week from May through November," he said.
Bringing new tourists into downtown Gloucester has stimulated widespread support for the new terminal from local business owners. Van Ness said the average tourist spends about $100 a day off the ship.
"This is like found money," said Mike Costello, executive director of the Cape Ann Chamber of Commerce.
Costello and business owners have said they like the demographics of the tourists that arrive on the cruises.
According to a report prepared last year by the Cruise Lines International Association, as many as 50 million US travelers were expected to go on a cruise by 2009. The average age is 49, and the average annual household income is $104,000, according to the report.
Even with the makeshift terminal, past visits from cruise ships have boosted the local economy. Last fall, there were six visits by cruise lines, including four by Holland America. The company's day trips to Gloucester, which start in New York and Montreal, were part of a tour of New England ports and brought a total of 5,500 tourists into the city, according to Chris Gieckel, a spokesman for Holland America.
"Gloucester is a unique destination: It's rich in maritime history, and a port that sets us apart from other cruise lines," Gieckel said.
Along the docks, the feeling is mixed about the new terminal, said Angela Sanfilippo, president of the Gloucester Fishermen's Wives Association. Sanfilippo, who has lobbied for decades against fishing restrictions, said she understood the need for more business around the waterfront but also wondered whether the city was setting a precedent by ceding a section of the port to a non fishing entity.
"We'd like to keep the waterfront for the fishing industry, but other people in Gloucester believe otherwise, so I hope this terminal works," she said.
Since the harbor falls under the state's Designated Port Area, development is limited. Any new project must be restricted to marine industrial use, which includes cruise lines.
In downtown Gloucester, diversifying the waterfront has long been the buzz phrase among shopkeepers. "The fishing industry has diminished and we need something to revitalize the city," said Lorre Anderson, who owns the The Black Swan gift shop on Main Street.
"We need to diversify," said Ann Goodwin, a bartender at the Crow's Nest, which was featured in the movie "The Perfect Storm." Goodwin said tourists from the cruises have beaten a steady path to the bar, which sells T-shirts, sweatshirts, and hats.
"They ask questions about 'The Perfect Storm,' and have a drink here so they can say they did," she said.
Gloucester Mayor John Bell, who has opposed the government's fishing regulations and the construction of two planned liquefied natural gas terminals off the coast of Gloucester, said the cruise terminal could spur new economic growth. "It opens the door to other opportunities," said Bell, who announced last month that he would not seek reelection this year.
For years, Bell has been trying to persuade developers to build a hotel in downtown Gloucester. He said a hotel would bring more revenue from tourists who now leave at the end of the day. "I think this is a giant step."
Steven Rosenberg can be reached at rosenberg@globe.com. 