Port Milwaukee is working to get the final piece of funding needed for a new cruise ship dock into the City’s 2025 budget, but it may have hit a snag. The fact that Milwaukee is coming off a record cruise season was used as an argument for, and against, a new $17 million dollar dock proposed for Bay View. The new dock would be near the current Lake Express Ferry Terminal, and include funding from State and Federal sources, as well as $5 million in funding in Mayor Cavalier Johnson’s budget.
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“Has anybody done a cost benefit analysis on whether this cruise ship dock is worth a $17 million investment?” Alderman Bob Bauman asked at a recent Public Works Committee Hearing. Bauman is the committee chairman, and shrugged off the response from Port Milwaukee Director, Jackie Q. Carter. She informed the alderman of a study showing Milwaukee’s cruise business over the last two seasons, produced more than $7 million in economic impact. “I know these kind of economic impact studies and in my humble opinion, they’re not worth the paper they’re written on. Because, they always puff up the numbers,” Bauman said.
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Carter is pushing for the investment, as the City comes off its most successful season yet. More than 13,000 visitors arrived on 27 cruise visits to the Port this year. Right now, Port Milwaukee accommodates the largest of these ships, at its commercial dock. They’re too big to dock at Pier Wisconsin. The commercial dock is not ideal, and Carter says other Great Lakes Cities are investing in new facilities to attract these ships. “There are other ports working on cruise ship terminals as well. So, right now, we don’t have a lot of competition. That’s going to change,” Carter told the committee.
Bauman pushed back, suggesting that the current arrangement must be good enough, as the big vessels are already topping here. Carter believes failure to invest in a dock that is built to serve cruise ships, specifically, is necessary to keep the momentum going and grow the cruise business. “While we can get away with not having the aesthetic in this moment, that will not always be the case.”
The Public Works Committee did not take action on the cruise ship funding. The full common council would ultimately have to include it in the city budget that will be approved later this year.
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