Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps is part of a 13-member delegation in Ottawa this week trying to drum up federal funding for a new Belleville Street ferry terminal.
This is no junket. After decades of talks, task forces, reports and hand-wringing, replacement of the dismal terminal on the south side of Victoria鈥檚 Inner Harbour is long overdue.
Visitors coming to downtown Victoria by sea are treated to a magnificent view that, besides natural features, includes the B.C. Parliament Buildings, the Empress Hotel and other heritage buildings. Much work over the years has gone into turning a bleak industrial site into an attractive, welcoming harbour.
But the welcome mat for ferry passengers is tattered and grubby. The terminal is a hodge-podge of temporary industrial trailers, hardly a fitting portal to a beautiful harbour and a beautiful region.
A 2006 Times 91原创 editorial described the terminal as 鈥渁 dowdy embarrassment that doesn鈥檛 do justice to the delights that travellers discover once they clear that building.鈥�
That editorial was written in response to a suggestion floated by the Greater Victoria Harbour Authority that would have seen a new ferry terminal built at the west end of Esquimalt to replace the Belleville Street terminal.
While understanding the GVHA鈥檚 desire to find an alternative to the old terminal, the editorial said the idea would go nowhere, and it didn鈥檛.
鈥淭he Belleville terminal needs to be replaced,鈥� said the editorial, reflecting the views of many people in the region. 鈥淲e know that already 鈥� We鈥檝e had enough studies, proposals, recommendations and the like. At some point, we need to see action.鈥�
In 2007, the City of Victoria appointed a volunteer task force to work out a way to improve the cramped, dreary facility. The group came up with an excellent proposal to improve the terminal and the entire waterfront area between the Inner Harbour causeway and the Laurel Point Inn.
But there was a fatal flaw 鈥� the task force鈥檚 limited terms of reference barred any public funding as part of the solution. The group concluded that without government money, the redevelopment couldn鈥檛 accommodate the Coho ferry service from Port Angeles.
That proved unacceptable to Tourism Victoria, which argued the Coho service was too valuable to risk. A University of Victoria study concluded the ferry service was bringing $124 million a year into the local economy, about $46 million of which would vanish if the Coho ceased operation.
The years that followed saw more talk and more going nowhere, until this past spring, when the provincial government entered an agreement with Black Ball, which operates the Coho car ferry, and Clipper Navigation to fund a $17.4-million upgrade to the docks at the terminal.
That is the first of three phases for improving the facility. Most of the $3 million needed has been raised for the second phase, which is improved car access.
It鈥檚 the third phase 鈥� building a new terminal to replace the trailers 鈥� that needs federal funding, between $20 million and $24 million, to augment money being raised locally.
Travellers arriving in Greater Victoria by air are greeted suitably. In 2011, Victoria International Airport, which receives federal funding for improvements, was rated among the top 10 most-loved airports in the world, and has consistently won awards for customer service.
While the Belleville Street terminal does not handle as many travellers as the airport, it, too, is an important portal. The federal government should do its part to ensure travellers by sea are welcomed in comfortable and attractive surroundings, not in temporary buildings more suitable for an oil camp than a port of entry to Canada.
