Work to begin soon on Shelburne Marine Terminal improvements
Municipality partnering with town on project
TRI-COUNTY VANGUARD
We’re very pleased that the municipality has joined with us. Karen Mattatall Shelburne Mayor KATHY JOHNSON
Work is expected to begin in mid-december on a $750,000 improvement project at the Shelburne Marine Terminal.
“We still have a few permits to receive before we can begin work but we are expecting it should commence in middecember and run three to four months, depending primarily on weather,” said town CAO Darren Shupe.
The contract for the project was awarded to G.W. Doucette, Yarmouth, in early November. Infrastructure enhancements will include the replacement of the concrete deck, installation of concrete curbs and reinstallation of bollards.
As it is now, about 50 per cent of the stem part of the wharf is under weight restrictions. The main focus of the project is to make the wharf structurally stable and safe, and ensure all the space alongside is usable to its full extent.
Since $659,742 in funding for the infrastructure upgrades from ACOA’S Innovative Communities Fund and Develop Nova Scotia was announced in September, the project has been boosted with another partner said Shelburne Mayor Karen Mattatall.
“The Municipality of Shelburne has joined with us in costsharing the portion that isn’t covered by ACOA and Develop Nova Scotia so that’s really a positive step forward,” said Mattatall.
“We’re very pleased that the
UPGRADE
municipality has joined with us. us. They also, like us, recognize the value and the importance of the port as a regional economic driver … it's never has just been a town wharf.”
Warden Penny Smith said the municipality agreed to partner with the town and the other levels of government to ensure future sustainability of the terminal.
“The municipality recognizes the terminal as being a regional economic development asset with potential for growth,” she said.
“There are many fishing- and marine-related jobs that directly depend on the continued viability of the Shelburne Marine Terminal.”
The Shelburne port was divested to the town from the federal government in 2002. The mayor says keeping the port sustainable has been a struggle since it was divested to the town, "because so little money came with it and it needed a lot of work at the time."
Now, with three other partners on board, "this is a big step forward,” said Mattatall.
“We're going to be working jointly to see what options are out there to make the port even more viable.”
Shelburne has been identified by the Atlantic Canada Cruise Association, Tourism Nova Scotia and Develop Nova Scotia as one of eight strategic 'niche' ports in the province that is suited to welcome smaller cruise ships with fewer passengers, as part of an Atlantic Canadian collaboration effort to attract more cruise visitors.