CHARLESTON, SC - A new South Carolina cruise terminal, needed to handle a growing cruise business, will reflect Charleston's historic character, meet enhanced security needs and provide more waterfront access, officials promised Thursday.

More than 200 people gathered at the present terminal, an aging brick-and-cinderblock structure on the Cooper River, to hear that a master plan for a new terminal and nine acres around it will be ready by late January.

Jim Newsome, president and CEO of the South Carolina State Ports Authority, says there is no budget or timetable yet for the terminal. But the need is there to replace the existing terminal that is almost 40 years old.

Beginning next spring, Carnival Cruise Lines will homeport its 2,056-passenger Carnival Fantasy in Charleston.

For the first time, passengers will be able to embark on ocean cruises from South Carolina year-round, pumping millions of dollars into the local and state economies. Carnival sails from Charleston currently, but operates only a handful of winter cruises.

Tourism, centered on the coast, is a $16 billion industry in South Carolina.

Newsome said the new terminal will have permanent customs stations. Agents now have to set up temporary areas to clear passengers in the existing terminal.

The new terminal will replace the existing terminal in a prime, although rundown, area of the waterfront at the foot of Market Street with its open-air stalls visited by millions of tourists each year.

On the high ground nearby stands one of Charleston's best-known structures, the majestic U.S. Custom House. Construction began before the Civil War, was suspended during the fighting and finished in 1879. The building has been used as a custom house ever since.

Mayor Joseph P. Riley Jr. said the project will provide more public access to the water on the tract that also includes several old port warehouses.

"Great cities are always evolving, trying to do things better," he said. "We can do better and must do better."

The plan is being developed by Cooper Robertson and Partners of New York, an urban design firm which has worked on other Charleston projects, including the city's noted Waterfront Park, a short distance down the river.

Planners said residents will be able to participate in the terminal planning, including attending a public meeting later this month.

Copyright 2009 The Washington Newspaper Publishing Company LLC. All rights reserved. From http://www.washingtonexaminer.com.
By Bruce Smith.
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