New York Lt. Governor Cathy Hochul joined Mayor Lovely Warren and a host of officials as they cut the ribbon for Rochester’s public marina at Charlotte.
The marina is a concept dating back to 1965. Today, Mayor Warren says it’s crucial for a city transitioning from the large scale manufacturing to the innovation economy, it becomes a quality of life attraction for people who start companies and create new jobs. She says it’s also a draw for tourist dollars by bringing Great Lakes cruise ships to Rochester.
As Warren spoke, the Great Lakes cruise ship Grande Mariner was docked at the Port of Rochester behind her.
Stephen Burnett, Executive Director of the Great Lakes Cruising Coalition, said even the small Great Lakes cruise ships are like a “travelling bank vault” that arrives at your port, unloads people who spend money and then moves on. He says cruising is a growing industry that is revitalizing lakefronts from Ontario through Superior. But he says it requires a good-looking place to stop, which Rochester has with the new marina. And he says Rochester’s location near the St. Lawrence Seaway makes it an ideal “port of entry” and departure for handling the government paperwork for the cruise lines.
The marine occupies what was once a parking lot for the failed fast ferry business…and makes use of the Port Terminal building to provide some of the “assets” officials say are needed to bring in the visiting boaters.
Burnett, who’s from Kingston, Ontario, says there are some 250 marinas and yacht clubs on the Canadian side of the lake looking for American destinations. He says he’s been to Rochester more than two dozen times, often coming across the lake in his own boat.