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Post by ruddernut on Sept 18, 2006 8:09:10 GMT -8
The Rail service is about to increase believe it or not. The old Royal Hudson (Largest Steam train in Canada, for those who don't know already...) is supposed to be running once again, after its huge rebuild over the last couple of years. Plus, BC Rails Budd Cars (similar to the Islands E&N) will also be doing some sort of service. There is a line, that isn't used too much, that goes almost right to where the location of the "Ferry" Terminal is supposed to go. Which is just a bit further down the line, from where the Royal Hudson used to sit, and unload/load passengers in Downtown Squamish. Plus there's also the Whistler Mountaineer train, which apparently has been doing really well. I wish they'd get a reasonably priced basic transport train (not the luxury tourist Whistler Mountaineer) shuttling skiiers between North Van and Whistler during ski season.
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Post by Ferryman on Sept 29, 2006 20:43:56 GMT -8
Oceanfront Advisory Panel to define marine vision Ferry proponent holds ‘extension’ of 2004 charette
Sylvie Paillard spaillard@squamishchief.com A marine developer hoping to see his ferries and shipyard located along Oceanfront lands is funding an extensive visioning process to determine what the community’s marine desires are for the 40 acres of water at the district-owned site.
“This is just a way Astrolabe does business. We’d like to know what people would like to see,” said Astrolabe Marine owner Maurice Gagné. “We’re working with the charette that was provided in 2004, because the charette to me is the official document of the community. The people on the SOAP [the Squamish Oceanfront Advisory Panel] group participated in that, so it’s a natural extension.”
A select group of residents and stakeholders, SOAP will brainstorm marine options for the Oceanfront lands today (Friday, Sept. 29) starting at noon at the Squamish Yacht Club. The resulting ideas, which could involve anything including tourism, industry, transportation or community development, will help guide the Astrolabe executive in their proposals, according to company spokesperson Kevin Damaskie.
The company will, however, begin by presenting an already fleshed-out proposal contained in a “vision booklet” that has been circulating throughout community groups.
“We want to put the sea in Sea to Sky,” said Damaskie. “Rather than get too far down the road, we’ll see what people are interested in discussing.”
Gagné has already begun selling Squamish as a marine destination and brought a delegation of Japanese Canada-Japan Chamber of Commerce members for a visit during the last week of August. The visit was facilitated by the Squamish Chamber of Commerce and included, among others, Coun. Patricia Heintzman, MLA Joan McIntyre, Mayor Ian Sutherland, said Gagné.
“Everybody got excited,” he said. “They find it incredible that we have a university here. And there are more activities to be done in Squamish than in Whistler on a year-round basis.”
Gagné said the reason he turned his attention to Squamish in the first place was due to a May 2 Vancouver Sun article in which Sutherland states the town is “open for marine business.”
He said that he has followed the proper recourse in bringing the proposal forward. A recourse that has included a Committee of the Whole presentation to council, discussions with the Squamish Oceanfront Development Corporation (SODC), Qualex and district staff. Gagné said that every step of the way, he has received encouragement and a “green light”. Yet Mayor Ian Sutherland called Gagné a “competing developer” in his Sept. 15 Chief column.
Gagné said the “onus of responsibility” is on the municipality’s authorities to clarify their desires.
“First things first, do you want this or not?” said Gagné. “That’s the decision the community needs to make and that includes mayor and council. If you want it, we’re here to provide it.”
Discussions for his proposed ferry terminal, marine facility and shipyard have stalled because the SODC sees it as pre-emptive of the soon-to-be master planning discussions among SODC, Qualex and Squamish residents, said SODC vice-chair Rob MacLeod in a letter to the Chief.
Part of the newly released memorandum of understanding agreement (MOU) binding Qualex and the SODC into a partnership to develop the Oceanfront lands states that one of the “major decisions” that may lead to the development deal’s disintegration is over the transferring of land to a third party developer – “such as marine uses,” said Macleod when explaining the clause at Tuesday’s (Sept. 26) public forum on the oceanfront.
MacLeod said during the forum that the SODC never turned down the Astrolabe proposal. Both Gagné and various SODC board members say Astrolabe has been asked to delay the proposal for a year so the land use plan may be completed.
MacLeod said the board does not want to “jump at the first opportunity to come along without due diligence” into such matters as financial capacity, but they would be willing to look at a temporary lease.
“All along we’ve been open to different uses,” he said.
Gagné said district planner Cameron Chalmers discussed a temporary lease arrangement with him and he’s amenable to the idea. But MacLeod said an offer to Astrolabe for a temporary facility permit has gone unanswered.
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Post by Ferryman on Sept 29, 2006 20:52:30 GMT -8
...On another side note... ......A small Cruise Ship came up here (extremely rare) from Seattle, and sat in the Squamish Deep Sea Terminal all week. The passengers were unloaded, and sent on buses up to Whistler. There are groups hoping to have more Cruise ships come up and do the same thing, along with the Ferry Service. I managed to get down to the "waterfront" aka land that the Gagne is after for the Ferry terminal/shipyard, to see the Cruise ship, Yorktown Clipper head South, with all of the wind surfers ripping around it like pests. Yorktown Clipper Also, here's a few pics of the land the Ferry terminal "might" be built at. (This is the pier the Queen of the Islands sat at for the winter season of 2004/5, which vandals actually snuck aboard and did quite a bit of damage....) Bonus picture for you Mount Garibaldi lovers...
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Neil
Voyager
Posts: 7,177
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Post by Neil on Sept 29, 2006 21:35:04 GMT -8
Chris, what is/or was the dock in that photo used for?
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Post by Ferryman on Sept 29, 2006 22:02:51 GMT -8
Well, the land used to hold a large Chlorine Plant and was owned by Nexan. It would make Chlorine out of the Minerals in the Salt Water. The Plant was closed down and demolished in the late 90s, leaving the land contaminated with Mercury. Anyways, to your question, hornbyguy. The dock is currently not used for anything, and is actually not safe to use anymore. So there are fences and signs all around it saying, "Keep off". This dock was an old railway ferry dock. For which company, I'm unaware of. The rails leading up to the dock have since been removed, but still remain on the ramp. A ship would come in and load up with train coaches full of Chlorine, and shipped away. This is only my guess as to what it was used for, judging by its location, along with a few clues. Here's a picture of the ramp: Also, here's a picture of the plant in operation back in 1981. You can see the plant just above the "www.globalairphotos" water mark. There is a barge sitting along a pier parallel to that dock as well. www.globalairphotos.com/large/BC/Squamish/All/1981/003/2
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Post by Ferryman on Oct 29, 2006 9:11:20 GMT -8
Cascade,
No exact news on the Ferry/Cruise ship Terminal. Haven't heard about Mr. Gagne for a while either. Last week, the group (Qualex Landmark) that was going to develop the land around the proposed area for the Ferry Terminal, backed out of the deal. This was because of long time Squamish residents not wanting any sort of change, that could somehow benifit the whole valley. But this week, there was rumours another company is looking at the land, and is considering taking a run at the City for it. It will be interesting to see what happens, but I'll post the first bit of news that comes out about the Ferry, when the next article comes.
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Post by CN2972South on Oct 31, 2006 23:25:46 GMT -8
This dock was an old railway ferry dock. For which company, I'm unaware of. The rails leading up to the dock have since been removed, but still remain on the ramp. A ship would come in and load up with train coaches full of Chlorine, and shipped away. AFAIK it was owned by BC Rail. Until the fifties there was no rail line between North Vancouver and Squamish, I doubt the slip is that old though, until the late 1990's BC Rail would recieve barges of railcars from the Union Pacific Railroad in Seattle. There is a similar barge slip in the same condition at the old BCR North Vancouver yard.
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Post by Ferryman on Nov 25, 2006 11:00:50 GMT -8
Passenger Ferry to launch once Waterfront Plan decided
Sylvie Paillard spaillard@squamishchief.com November 24, 2006
Westmana Developement is ready to enter a deal that would bring a passenger ferry service from Vancouver to Downtown Squamish, according to principal Rene David, but first the District of Squamish must decide on a waterfront plan now that pontential Oceanfront developement partner Qualex has walked away. David is on the verge of signing a lease that would entitle Westmana and an as yet unnamed Ferry Company to dock and having the a Parking area Near the Yacht Club. "The singing is imminent," said David. "But we're holding back only because of this [Oceanfront] project." Land use certainly would not only allow for a ferry, said David, but also bring a new Transportation hub to the Waterfront. "Once we have this location we hope to have this hub planned properly where we have a Floatplane Terminal, a Heliport location, and of course a bus loop with the Passenger Ferry Service." But if waterfront decisions are delayed much longer, said David, the entire opportunity may be lost. "I'm sure at one point the Ferry company will get bored and tired. At one point Westmana has to consider selling, we have have a list of half a dozen or more buyers that will buy it for an investment," he said, but quickly added, "we've obviously investeda lot in Squamish, we're going to stay." During a Committee of the Whole Meeting Tuesday (Nov 21), David implored the Council to join Westmana in waterfront masterplanning in order to expedite decisions on downtown land use. Westmana will return to council with the joint planning proposal in the new year.
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Post by Low Light Mike on Mar 12, 2007 17:50:49 GMT -8
Cascade: Do you know if the confidentiality of this document is still applicable.......or is this old-news now?
Just curious, re the posting of this on our very-public website.
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Post by Dane on Mar 12, 2007 17:54:24 GMT -8
Its publically accessible from the chamber's website.... just walk back through the url
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Post by Ferryman on Mar 12, 2007 18:07:29 GMT -8
Thanks, Cascade. I haven't seen that before. Very interesting read. The aerial pictures of Downtown Squamish are interesting, because the Interfor Sawmill, and Nexen Chlorine plant are still very much in operation. Both lands are currently empty. I'm starting to have my doubts as to whether or not this will actually go through. Squamish keeps getting screwed over with the Olympics, aside from the housing boom. The Olympic commitee turned down the idea last week of having a Cruise ship park in the harbour for people to stay at. Instead, now they rather set up accomadation in all 4 of the High Schools in the Sea to Sky region. Also, Mr. Gagne hasn't said anything to media since the early summer about his big plans, and the Squamish Municipality keeps changing their minds about the waterfront development.
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Post by Northern Exploration on Mar 13, 2007 19:28:50 GMT -8
During the Olympics I think it would be a big boon and help for traffic on the sea to sky if there were a passenger ferry service with a bus link to Whistler. However I wonder that unless substantial growth takes place in Squamish I don't see the sustainability of a large scale operation like would be needed for the Olympics. Maybe a small scale service could make it.
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Post by Jack on Nov 1, 2007 16:28:34 GMT -8
Whatever happened to this proposition??
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Post by Ferryman on Nov 1, 2007 16:51:55 GMT -8
I think a number of things have lead the project to quietly be deleted. For the past year or so, the land and waterfront of the area for the proposed terminal in Squamish has been up for debate a number of times, and nobody down at City Hall can seem to agree on anything. From the sounds of it, it's like everybody wants the service, but nobody wants to pay for it. VANOC has been debating about what to do with the Sea to Sky and what sort of transportation will be provided. Two other ideas I've heard of instead of the Ferry is allowing a constant stream of buses to be on the highway. They would hire buses from all over North America to come up for the two weeks (we're talking hundreds of buses) to run back and forth from Whistler to Vancouver throughout the day and night for those two weeks. Another option was to have all lanes of the highway running in one direction, switching directions after so many hours. Whatever is decided, I know I'll be on a two week holiday in someplace ncie and warm for those two weeks, because it's overwhelming enough being a roofer and trying to keep up with the building boom up here as it is. Anyways, the point I've been trying to get at is that it would be easier and faster to provide constant bus service by the minute, instead of opening up a Ferry route to get people halfway to Whistler.
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Post by Northern Exploration on Nov 1, 2007 18:37:14 GMT -8
I agree with you Chris. Maybe even articulated buses may be in order too to carry more passengers. It would have been nice to have a high speed passenger ferry run from the Airport, UBC and Downtown to Squamish to be met by buses to shuttle people the rest of the way, but is getting late in the game now to pull that sort of thing together. And then everyone pray for no rock or mud slides during the games.
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Post by BrianWilliams on Nov 5, 2007 18:49:08 GMT -8
A limitation we have to remember: the Winter Games will run for just 16 days (with another 2 weeks of the Paralympics later in March).
Even though demand for Vancouver-Whistler travel will be huge, it's hard to justify fixed private capital investment for such a short time. Yeah, I know the highway upgrade is costing a bomb, but it is arguably overdue. There are no plans to toll Hwy 99 that I know of, but I'd argue it's a good idea.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Apr 21, 2009 20:50:28 GMT -8
Going by the old Darrell Bay ferry dock today I noticed a floating derrick and a large flat scow secured to it. No activity visible. There's a rumor around Squamish that someone ( Highways ??) is going to have an 'emergency' ferry dock there. Not sure if it's an upgrade or replacement. Again, rumor as it that it's a "just in case ' for the Olympics. ( Around here, if you haven't heard a good rumor by Tuesday night, it's time to start one!)
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Post by fargowolf on Apr 30, 2009 20:24:42 GMT -8
That exact thing happened to Springfield in an episode of "The Simpsons" And ther you go... The Mono Rail Song ;D
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Post by Ferryman on Mar 9, 2012 10:25:51 GMT -8
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