Port Authority Talking of Ferry Service?

[pauljs75]

I saw the article by Dan Moran on Oct 9 discussing this. Seems like an interesting idea.

I think a ferry service would be great. I think when doing their research hopefully Bay Ferries is high up on the list. (They're Canadian, so their operating conditions wouldn't be too different from what's out on the lake.) And instead of some put-putt boat that's no faster than what could be chartered at one of the marinas, get some fast ferrys that are equivalent to HSC The Cat in terms of performance (but likely smaller) so that it could be reasonable in terms of being a realistic transportation option vs. the train or driving. (I still see it being more expensive than the train and even driving, but quite roomy with space to walk around and with a nice view from the lake.) If it goes to Chicago and Milwaukee and has a shuttle bus to Six Flags from Waukegan (with a downtown stop in between on Genessee) I think it'd be a very popular way to travel in the summer.

Dunno if they'd go that far. But if you want to do it right, do it right! :mrgreen:

[Danno]

Don't get excited. It's only the talk of someone at the Port District who thinks they have an original idea and nothing more. If such a service was profitable it would already exist because it's been talked about for years.
Here's the story.

Dan Moran: Burnham-sized plans stir the water
Oct 8, 2010 07:31PM
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Thomas Delany Jr. Staff Photographer. Dan Moran, reporter for The News Sun. 7/12/06


At a single recent event to christen a multimillion-dollar development, two different people deployed Daniel Burnham’s most famous quote in two different ways.

“Make no small plans,” said one, which is how most of us remember that famous maxim about making things happen.

“Make no little plans. They have no magic to stir men’s blood, and probably will not themselves be realized,” said another, using the apparent exact quote.

(I say apparent because, at least according to a March 2009 article in The New Yorker, “there is little evidence that he really said this.” To use an expression one might encounter in The New Yorker, what a bunch of party poopers.)

Whether or not Chicago’s fabled master planner actually said it, he certainly lived it, and he most definitely impressed it on civic boosters far and wide. To this day, a century after Burnham saw a lakefront that “by right belongs to the people,” you’ll hear someone somewhere propose something that looks to stir blood, even when cynics will tell you the odds are against it being realized.

This brings us to Waukegan, where many a plan has come and gone over the last decade. Over the last 10 years, if all had gone well, Waukegan would now have lakefront condominiums by the yacht club, $900,000 condos on Sheridan Road, luxury apartments where the old News-Sun building now stands and a casino next to Buffalo Wild Wings at Fountain Square.

I probably skipped a few grand ventures that never came to fruition, but that’s a pretty healthy list of things that might have seemed both iffy and doable at the same time, and were undone by various factors beyond Waukegan’s control, from the Great Recession to the Illinois Gaming Board.

However, in the face of adversity, Burnham was known to say “if it don’t go, ya gotta push it.” Actually, I made that up. There is no evidence that he actually said this.

But, anyway, the Waukegan Port District recently started pushing a no-little-plan: A passenger cruise line with proposed ports of call that include Chicago, Kenosha, Milwaukee and, yes, Waukegan.

“The Port District Board sees a rich opportunity for such a venture to (be) successful, with so many tourists, families and students already in the area,” reads a statement about the concept, noting such regional destinations as Six Flags Great America, Gurnee Mills, KeyLime Cove, North Point Marina, the Genesee Theatre and Ravinia.

The board has authorized exploratory talks with cruise companies and partner communities to discuss recreational vessels that could also be used for “commuting along the North Shore and even voyages across the lake to Michigan, and such ports of call as Mackinac Island.”

Mayor Robert Sabonjian told me the other day that he backs the port district’s general idea. “It’d be great if we could make a harbor a point of entry for tourists,” he said.

But when asked about the feasibility of launching recreational cruises out of Waukegan, the mayor acknowledged that “something like this always takes time to put together,” noting that a cruise line and its financial backing would have to be lined up before anything could be brought before the City Council.

That has been the big hurdle for so many of these Waukegan plans: Cold, hard cash. When it comes to redeveloping the lakefront, someone once told me that the financial world is waiting for someone else to take the first plunge — so everyone can learn from the success or failure.

Eventually, that first step is going to happen in Waukegan, and many other steps might follow, especially if and when the housing industry bounces back. In the meantime, those Burnham-sized plans will keep coming, and, if nothing else, they’ll stir up opinions one way or the other.

[WT Reader]

Sounds like a great idea to me. It was done 100 yrs ago, a boat called the "Pere Marquette" rountinely sailed from Chicago to Milwaukee, stopping at Waukegan. I have seen pics of this in Ed Link's excellent book on the history of Waukegan.

If we could do it here 100 yrs ago, why not now? I hope this continues to be explored, certainly worthy of it.

-- WT Reader