Bar Harbor advances $40M phased proposal for ferry terminal redevelopment
COURTESY / GEI CONSULTANTS INC.
A phase-three conceptual drawing shows an all-tide boat launch ramp — a priority for the project — at left along with other marina amenities.
Bar Harbor planners are looking to offset sticker shock for the nearly $40 million estimated cost of a multiyear project to redevelop a deteriorating ferry terminal.
The plan would be carried out through a phased approach that taps into state and federal grant programs.
If voters ultimately approve the redevelopment, which is still in the concept stage, the plan might achieve multiple objectives envisioned when the town of Bar Harbor bought the site from the Maine Department of Transportation in 2019.
In December, the Town Council approved a conceptual master plan for the site’s redevelopment.
“There are big dollar signs there, but if you break it down to smaller pieces, there are approachable projects,” said Chris Wharff, the town’s harbormaster, who presented the plan to the council.
Said Councilor Matthew Hochman, “Other than the dollar signs, I do love the idea and I think for the most part it’s what people are looking for, for the site.”
Deteriorating infrastructure
The terminal, at 121 Eden St., was built in 1956 to serve as a port for the MV Bluenose, which provided ferry service to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. The Bluenose was eventually replaced by the CAT ferry, operated by Bay Ferries Ltd. of Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. The CAT stopped operating in Bar Harbor in 2009.
The town completed its $3.5 million purchase of the site from the state of Maine in 2019 and worked out a lease with Bay Ferries to restart CAT service. Bay Ferries began a rebuild that included a new terminal building and improvements to the site’s north pier. After pandemic delays, the terminal was put to use for CAT service in 2022.
In the meantime, the town considered what to do with the remaining property. In 2020, the council contracted with Portland engineering firm GEI Consultants Inc. to assess the condition of the south pier and other infrastructure to determine options for possible reuse.
The assessment, completed in 2021, made it clear that the infrastructure was badly deteriorated.
The local harbor committee subsequently recommended that the town demolish infrastructure not needed to fulfill its contract with Bay Ferries and come up with options for phased development of a multipurpose facility, with potential uses such as a boat ramp for recreational and limited commercial use, traditional marina services, an expansion of the town’s working waterfront, and tendering cruise ship passengers.
The conceptual master plan, also completed by GEI, is the culmination of that work.
Costs
The plan envisions phasing project components over time and as funding is available.
“It looks like smaller bites of the whale is the proper way to go,” said Councilor Joe Minutolo.
Phase 1, estimated at $9.2 million, includes demolition of the south pier and other infrastructure, plus construction of a boat launch ramp, fuel docks, upland underground fuel storage system and other improvements.
Phase 2, estimated at $17.6 million, includes development of small buildings and marina amenities, including floats, docks and moorings, construction of a commercial pier and a causeway extension.
Phase 3, estimated at $9.4 million, includes demolition and renovations of existing buildings, infrastructure improvements and marina expansion.
Estimates were based on costs escalating at a rate of 6% annually for a construction timeline from 2025 through 2030.
“The cost of undertaking the entire plan is significant and may be challenging for the town to support/finance,” the plan says.
However, it continues, “opportunities exist for phasing the project and developing the site over an extended period of time as funding becomes available and final decisions are made on the site’s intended use.”
Funding opportunities
The plan identifies external funding opportunities — for further studies, design development, permitting, construction, and operations and maintenance — that include state and federal grant programs, such as the Bureau of Parks and Lands’ Submerged Lands Harbor Management and Access Grant program and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s Boating Infrastructure Grant Program.
“Phasing of the various project elements provides an opportunity to take advantage of multiple funding sources, spread the necessary investment by the town over a longer period of time, and stage early improvements to create momentum for later elements of the project,” the plan says.
Boat launch
Public outreach identified construction of an all-tide boat launch as a priority.
“Constructing this in the initial phase would provide a foundation for the rest of the site to be developed around, given that the boat launch location and its associated vehicle circulation is consistent for the different master plan phases,” the plan says.
The town has only one major all-tide boat ramp, in a location surrounded by congested downtown traffic that makes it difficult to launch boats during the busy summer months.
Demand for an additional boat launch facility in Bar Harbor away from the downtown congestion was an early focus for the terminal’s redevelopment.
Hand-carry vessel launch
With the growing popularity of kayaking, paddleboarding, and other hand-carry recreational vessels, the plan envisions providing launch access for those types of vessels, but separate from trailered vessels in order to reduce potential conflict and increase safety.
Parking spaces, difficult to find in the downtown, would serve all users.
Shared-use pathways would connect an existing path on Route 3 with the waterfront at the site.
Cruise tenders
Phase 1 demolition of the south pier is also recommended as a top priority because it would allow the installation of in-water facilities to support cruise-ship tendering and of a fuel service facility and dinghy docks.
“Cruise passengers are typically tendered into downtown, where buses used to transport passengers into Acadia National Park and other regional destinations add to the already congested area,” the plan says. “Providing cruise tendering at the site will alleviate some of the downtown congestion caused by tendering.”
It’s expected that the site would provide ample space to support a secured cruise tendering facility with adequate circulation for buses that does not generally conflict with the circulation required for using the boat launch.
Marina
Following phase 1, the town could consider various combinations of master plan components for phase two, such as building out recreational and commercial marinas and constructing a commercial pier.
“Accommodating mixed uses at the site was a recurrent theme expressed by various stakeholders,” the plan says. “The marina should accommodate both recreational and commercial users while providing some degree of separation between the two. The site should also include waterfront open space for the public to enjoy and shared-use pathways to promote access for pedestrians and cyclists from downtown Bar Harbor.”
The plan notes that the second phase could be broken into subphases as funding becomes available or as the town makes final decisions on what is to be implemented at the site.
The CAT
Phase 3 would depend on whether Bay Ferries continues to lease the northern portion of the site to operate the CAT ferry. Bay Ferries has a lease with the town to provide ferry service at the site until 2026.
The plan offers flexible options to accommodate that uncertainty.
Additional amenities could include restrooms and showers, businesses such as a ships store, food and beverages, a storage facility and a harbormaster building.
The plan proposes waterfront open space throughout the site with landscaping, lighting, benches, picnic tables and gazebos.
‘Unique opportunity’
The terminal “provides a unique opportunity for the town of Bar Harbor to develop a premier public waterfront facility that promotes access to the waters surrounding Bar Harbor while supporting recreational boating, working waterfront uses, launching, and cruise tendering, as well as enjoyment of the coastal environment,” the plan says.
Next steps include design development and permitting, additional field work to verify the site’s condition, environmental studies to understand the resources and constraints relevant to permitting the proposed project, a public input process throughout each phase, coordination with regulatory agencies, and projections of operating costs and revenues for the site.
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