City Planner Colin Vasquez tells GlobeSt.com that the buildings permit application was submitted recently and, given the potential benefit to the city as well, is on a fast track approval process that could result in a building permit sometime in December or January.
According to the MUP decision document, the Port of Seattle began operations at Pier 66 as a homeport for seven-day Alaska cruises in May 2000. That same season, tests of a three-day and four-day Pacific Northwest cruises to Victoria and Vancouver, British Columbia were completed. "Given the increased interest by the cruise industry in bringing cruise ships to Seattle, the Port was approached by several cruise lines to provide a new homeport operation elsewhere in the harbor in addition to Pier 66," states the report. "The Port then decided to pursue a new homeport operation at Terminal 30."
The port expects more than 100 cruise calls carrying 400,000 passengers in 2003--more than triple what it received in 2000. Vasquez tells GlobeSt.com the new location will allow for larger ships than can currently dock at Pier 66. "The current ships hold 1,600 to 2,300 passengers," says Vasquez. "The larger ships will be able carry 2,300 to 2,800 passengers."
Terminal 30 is the southernmost terminal on the "East Waterway." Currently an unused cargo terminal, the 37-acre property backs up to Alaskan Way between Downtown Portland and West Seattle. Although without a passenger terminal, cruise ships have moored at Terminal 30 in the past during the cruise season, providing moorage for approximately 8 to 10 port of call cruise ships each year in 1988 and 1989. In 1993, it was used by Holland America cruise ships.
The current proposal is for a two-berth facility that would begin operation to accommodate moorage for homeport cruise ship vessels in April 2003. Outside of the cruise ship season, the proposed new passenger terminal building-- a pre-engineered metal building, rectangular in shape with a sloped roof--would be used as a warehouse, and the surface parking areas would be used for outdoor storage in support of the property's use as a seasonal cargo terminal.
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