Cutters work to clear St. Clair River ice jams
On Friday, CCG ships Griffon and Samuel Risley worked for several hours in an effort to keep the channel in the lower end of the St. Clair River open. Officials are hoping a change in wind direction and lower wind velocity will help them clear the ice jams.
An increase in cruise ships bringing $6M to help accommodate traffic at Port of Milwaukee
Milwaukee, WI – A big increase in cruise ships docking at Port Milwaukee is bringing around $6 million in improvements to help accommodate that traffic. And a major piece of that funding will be a $3.5 million grant to help expand maritime infrastructure for larger cruise ships, Gov. Tony Evers announced Thursday.
That grant will help pay for upgrades, including a new platform, at Port Milwaukee’s south shore dock, located just east of the Lake Express High-Speed Ferry terminal, 2330 S. Lincoln Memorial Drive. That work, to include funding through other grants and port revenue, could be completed by 2023.
That dock will handle some of the largest cruise ships on the Great Lakes, including visits from the Viking line, said Adam Tindall-Schlicht, Port director. Both Viking’s Octantis ship, which can carry up to 500 passengers, and the Pearl Mist line are expected to operate on the Great Lakes this year, starting in May, Tindall-Schlict said.
That’s pending approval from public health officials in the United States and Canada, who barred Great Lakes cruises in 2020 and 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The cruises could resume as early as May, Tindall-Schlict said.
Port Milwaukee estimates it will host at least 10,000 cruise ship passengers in 2022. That compares to 3,000 in 2019 and less than 1,000 in 2018. “The increase has been exponential,” Tindall-Schlict said.
Along with the new Viking service, that higher traffic is tied to a December 2020 lease agreement approved by the Milwaukee Board of Harbor Commissioners. It guarantees that Port Milwaukee will be a turnaround location for the Pearl Mist cruise ship through 2030 – with an option for the cruise line to extend that service to 2040.
The lease provides priority docking rights at Pier Wisconsin, the downtown dock immediately east of Discovery World, to Guilford, Connecticut-based Pearl Seas Management (USA) LLC.
The lease guarantees the Pearl Mist will use the pier for turnaround operations at least five times annually — marking the site where westward Great Lakes cruises end and eastward cruises begin for new passenger groups.
That means passengers both coming and going can be attracted to extend their stays in Milwaukee — bringing more business for hotels, restaurants and cultural attractions.
Other cruise lines that visit Milwaukee include American Queen Voyages.
The port’s grant is part of $21.9 million awarded to 27 local governments and organizations through the Tourism Capital Investment Grant Program, according to the governor’s office. That program is funded by the federal American Rescue Plan Act.
Door County Maritime Museum receives $1.75 million state grant for 10-story tower
Sturgeon Bay, WI – The Door County Maritime Museum received welcomed news from the state just as the museum gets ready to expand its attractions.
Wednesday, the state announced the museum won a grant award of $1.75 million through the Tourism Capital Investment Grant Program implemented by Gov. Tony Evers to support major tourism-related capital improvement projects across the state.
The new, 10-story Jim Kress Maritime Lighthouse Tower at the Door County Maritime Museum in Sturgeon Bay will open two floors of exhibits on “Shipwrecks” and “Navigation” with a ribbon cutting ceremony Feb. 11.
The funds will be put toward the Jim Kress Maritime Lighthouse Tower, DCMM’s new 118-foot-high, 20,000-square-foot exhibit space that includes an observation deck on top overlooking the downtown Sturgeon Bay waterfront. The 10-story tower, the tallest building in Door County, was christened in May but exhibits still are being put together and installed (with two floors opening in about a week).
“This major grant from the State of Wisconsin goes a long way to help assure the Museum and its new landmark Kress Maritime Lighthouse Tower will continue to educate and entertain generations to come and be a key contributor to the region’s tourist economy,” DCMM board president Terry Connelly said in a statement.
Overall, 27 projects in Wisconsin from 210 applicants won a grant under the program, with individual awards ranging from $29,000 to the maximum possible of $3.5 million. The program originally had $10 million to divvy up but with a far greater number of applicants than anticipated, the state raised the amount to $21.9 million.
Sam Perlman, deputy director and development manager for the museum, said a capital campaign for the tower originally set a goal of $5.5 million, but the final goal ended up at $9.2 million, with about $2.1 million earmarked for the new exhibits. He said the grant was written partially to cover the remaining construction costs with the rest going toward the exhibits, and the funds get the museum “pretty close” to fulfilling the campaign goal.
Green Bay Press Gazette
