A groundbreaking ceremony was held at the Casco Bay Ferry Terminal for the start of major renovations. The terminal project includes expanding the waiting area by 4,500 s/f to a total of 9,000 s/f and moving it closer to gates 4 and 5, which are used more. The expanded terminal will allow people to see boats at gates 4 and 5 from inside the waiting area, alleviating congestion from people waiting outside. The terminal will also have newer restrooms closer to the ticket counter so employees can better monitor them.
The first phase of the project, repairing and replacing pilings on a portion of the pier, should be completed this fall. That phase brings the total cost of improvements to about $3 million.
The ferry terminal, which was built in 1988, has seen increased use in recent years with more passengers and freight traffic. Nearly 1 million people use the ferry service each year, more than double the number the terminal was designed to accommodate.
Landry/French Construction is the general contractor and Scott Simons Architects is the architect for this exciting project.
Casco Bay Lines owns five ferries and serves Peaks, Little Diamond, Great Diamond, Long, Chebeague and Cliff islands.
The project, which also includes the replacement and repair of some pilings on the pier, should be complete by May.