National Seashore expects approval of ferry pier | Pensacola News Journal | pnj.com

National Seashore expects approval of ferry pier Pensacola News Journal pnj.com: National Seashore expects approval of ferry pier

Link to Article: http://www.pnj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2011111010309

The superintendent of the Gulf Islands National Seashore expects to get the OK today from the National Park Service to build a ferry pier at Fort Pickens with $2.8 million secured last year.




A ferry system to shuttle passengers from Pensacola Beach across Pensacola Bay to downtown or Pensacola Naval Air Station has been studied for more than 30 years.

"The ferry pier has been included in all our planning documents since the early days of the seashore," Superintendent Dan Brown said. "The pier is one very significant step in implementing the system."

A ferry system would resolve one of Fort Pickens' biggest problems: providing alternative transportation to the popular park when the only road washes out during storms.

"We have more than 700,000 visitors coming to Fort Pickens a year," he said. "It's the most heavily visited site in the National Seashore. The idea is to continue that access."

If the Park Service's development advisory board approves today, Brown will green-light the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to seek bids for a contractor.

Construction could begin in January and take six to eight months.

The next hurdle would be buying at least two or three ferry boats. The cost of the boats has not been determined because the type and size needed has not been nailed down, Brown said.

Brown has been making the rounds drumming up support from City of Pensacola, Escambia County, Santa Rosa Island Authority, and NAS officials. Everyone wants the ferry system, he said.

"All of us are looking at grant sources to see if we can get funding for boats," he said.

Brown has a strong advocate in Pensacola Mayor Ashton Hayward.

"(The National Seashore) is a huge draw, and being able to connect that beautiful beach with our downtown would be a tremendous opportunity," he said. "This is an issue that I am constantly bringing up in Tallahassee and in Washington, D.C., and I hope that we can all work together to make this happen."

Escambia County Commissioner Grover Robinson is convinced a ferry system will be in place in 2013, with the Seashore spearheading the effort.

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"No doubt, this is one project we'd like to see happen," he said. "We just have figure out how to get there."

The county is seeking money for a ferry system from the $100 million BP paid to the state for early restoration projects or from fine money BP is likely to pay through Clean Water Act fines, Robinson said.

Among the details to iron out is who would manage the system.

One idea is to set up the Fort Pickens ferry similar to the Seashore's West Ship Island ferry system in Mississippi.

A vendor operates that system, which attracts 1,000 paying riders a day during the peak season.

The Seashore's contract with the vendor that operates the two park stores expires at the end of 2012, and that would be the perfect time to "fold in" the management of the ferry into that contract, Brown said.

Laura Lee, a spokeswoman for the Pensacola Bay Area Chamber of Commerce, is hopeful local officials will find money to support the ferry system because the bay offers the most beautiful views of the area.

"If there is a way to get everyone to all those attractions by ferry, it would be great benefit to our area," she said.




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