DETROIT – The state’s largest city would be a good stop for any cruise ship plying the Great Lakes – but at this time, there aren’t good places along the Detroit River to dock big passenger ships.

That will change early next year, when the new Detroit/Wayne County Port Authority Dock and Terminal is complete. The $15 million terminal, being constructed on the riverfront west of the GM Renaissance Center, will allow for the docking and convenient passenger handling for Great Lakes passenger cruise ships.

White-Braun is managing construction of the 21,000 square-foot terminal. On July 14, the Port authority learned they would receive $7 million in additional federal stimulus money to build a 30-foot wharf into the river. The deeper 26 feet of water at the end of the wharf will allow the facility to accommodate the largest Great Lakes cruise ships, as well as tall ships, Naval ships and tourist craft. The water at the seawall is only 10-12 feet deep, so the wharf work is critical to the success of the project.

The port authority currently operates two commercial docks along the Detroit River, in Southwest Detroit and Ecorse – but they’re set up for moving commercial and bulk goods, not people – although they’ve tried. “Putting cruise passengers through those docks is nothing short of a nightmare,” said Detroit/Wayne County Port Authority Deputy Director Steven Olinek. “Moving passengers through the facility, with customs and baggage – a commercial dock is just not a viable option.”

Located at Bates and Atwater Streets, the two-story terminal will have ticket counters, a processing area for tourists, a public plaza and will house the authority’s headquarters. The new passenger port terminal sits on a site that had many former uses, including a machine shop and clubhouse. Old coal vaults serving the Detroit Public Lighting Department are also underground. Although site isn’t particularly large, the menagerie of old foundations necessitated the driving of 85 foundation piles to stabilize the building.

“We’re also straddling a 36-inch water line right underneath us that serves the chillers in the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center,” said Harold Bundrent of White Construction. “There’s a lot going on under this little site.”

Olinek said he hopes Detroit will be “an embarkation point” for cruise passengers seeking to looking to sail the upper Great Lakes. GreatLakesCruising.com shows its Clelia II vessel making a number of cruises through the Great Lakes, with stops including Toronto, Mackinac Island, Thunder Bay, Houghton  and Duluth. Olinke said typical Great Lakes cruise ships have a passenger capacity of 220 or so.

“Progress on the job so far has been wonderful,” he said. “The whole group has done a really great job.”

MIXING MORTAR outside the new Detroit/Wayne County Port Authority Dock and Terminal is James Taite of Laborers Local 1191, working for Dixon Masonry.