By Sean McIndoe
Heavy construction at Confederation Square may mean area tourists will be missing the boat.
That’s the fear of Ottawa’s two largest tourist boat lines in the wake of the ongoing “Restore the Core” construction project expected to last through the next two summer seasons.
Mike Mulhall, president and managing partner of the Ottawa Riverboat Company, says the project is having a direct effect on his industry.
“We expect sales to fall drastically because of the chaos that will reign supreme because of this,” says Mulhall, who estimates that 40 to 50 per cent of the company’s business comes from walk-up kiosk sales in the affected area.
“We might lose half of our revenues from those sales,” says Mulhall.
Dan Duhamel, vice president of Paul’s Boat Lines, predicts even worse fallout for his business.
Duhamel estimates 80 to 90 per cent of his business comes from ticket sales at the company’s Plaza Bridge kiosk.
“It’s almost all walk-in, especially in July and August,” Duhamel says. “That area’s not going to be a pleasant place to walk through this summer. It will be dusty and confusing and people will just want out of it.”
Duhamel says Paul’s is looking for ways to reduce their expenses to make up for the lost sales.
He’s approached the National Capital Commission about reducing the rent payed for dockspace, but isn’t optimistic.
“They said they’d let us know,” he says. “In my experience, ‘let you know’ means forget it.”
Dave Marett, manager of capital core area projects with the regional government, says the region is aware of the potential problem and is doing its best to help the affected companies.
Bi-weekly meetings have been held throughout the project, and the region has made efforts to address concerns raised by local citizens and businesses.
“All concerns are brought up at the meetings, and we’re listening,” Maraud says. “(The boat companies) will have an area (to sell tickets) on or near the bridge.”
Mulhall says the region has been helpful so far, but isn’t convinced it will be enough.
“I have to say that the RMOC people have been pretty good,” he says. “They’ve been trying to make the best of a pretty poor situation, in terms of getting some signage up and finding alternative strategies. But it remains to be seen whether it will happen.”
Both Mulhall and Duhamel concede there aren’t likely to be any easy answers.
In addition to lower ticket sales from reduced pedestrian traffic in the area, a spiral staircase, which provided easy access from the bridge to the canal, has been demolished.
While the region has promised that the canal will always be accessible, Duhamel says some customers may not want to make the extra effort.
“They’ll have to walk through a construction site to get to the canal,” he says. “A lot of people just won’t want to make that trip through the work and noise.”
In addition to working with the region to install signs in the area, both companies say they’re trying to get local hotels and bus tours to inform tourists of their possible new locations.
Despite his fears of financial disaster, Duhamel has tried to put a positive spin on the construction.
“If tourists can find us, we’ll be the best way to see the city this summer,” he says. “There’s no construction on the waterways.”