Nanaimo port seeks funds for new cruise terminal

Nanaimo port seeks funds for new cruise terminal    The Canadian port authority of Nanaimo plans to seek $5 million in federal government grant money to build a new cruise ship terminal.
   Officials from the small British Columbia port will seek the funds from the new Canada-B.C. Building Canada Fund announced by federal officials JULY 7. The funding program will make $270 million in grants available to small communities for transportation, water treatment and tourism infrastructure projects. Nanaimo, located on Vancouver Island about 35 miles west of Vancouver, B.C., has a population of about 80,000.
   Nanaimo port officials have $5 million to put toward the proposed $18.5 million facility and Premier Gordon Campbell announced earlier this year that the port would receive an additional $5 million next year. The port has also submitted a proposal to the Island-Coast Economic Trust for another $3.5 million.
   The plan calls development of a terminal capable of handling cruise ships more than 1,000 feet long.
   Port and city officials are hopeful that attracting such ships, and the nearly 2,000 passengers that might disembark during a stop, will bolster local businesses. Several cruise lines have made stops at Nanaimo, however passengers wishing to go ashore have to be ferried back and forth in water taxis, which limits the number of visitors.
   The port authority has until Sept. 5 to submit the grant application.