Kingston gets one step closer to deep water dock

The city of Kingston continues to move ahead with plans to create a deep water dock to accommodate large cruise ships.

Council will be updated on the situation on Tuesday night at its regular meeting.

Staff is recommending the city proceed with negotiations and complete the acquisition of the federally-owned water lot at the foot of Queen Street next to the Wolfe Island ferry terminal.

“We can’t park a ship there and we can’t dredge anything if we don’t have access to the water lot, that’s owned by the federal government, said Lanie Hurdle, the community services commissioner with the city. “The actual dock itself is owned by a private owner.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "We can't park a ship there and we can't dredge anything if we don't have access to the water lot, that's owned by the federal government, said Lanie Hurdle, the community services commissioner with the city. "The actual dock itself is owned by a private owner."

Hurdle says the city has spoken to the private owners and that they’re interested in having a partnership. Now, it’s a question of working out the details.

Stephen Burnett is the executive director of the Great Lakes Cruising Coalition, an organization that advocates passenger cruising on the Great Lakes. He says Kingston has it all except a deep water dock.

“At the moment, our ships have thrown an anchor out in the bay — we have to bring them in with tenders — we do a good job of doing that but ultimately, more ships will come if we can tie them up at a dock somewhere.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "At the moment, our ships have thrown an anchor out in the bay — we have to bring them in with tenders — we do a good job of doing that but ultimately, more ships will come if we can tie them up at a dock somewhere."

And that somewhere could be at One Queen Street. No timeline has been set, but Hurdle does say however, it won’t happen quickly but it’s definitely a feasible process.