New stairway a step towards cruise ships

The stairway will give cruise ship visitors and visiting boaters a safer route to the floating docks already in place, according to an announcement from the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, which is providing the funding, along with $12,500 from Digby Marine Developments Ltd.

Reg Hazelton, chair of the Digby Harbour Port Association, said Friday he expects a tender for the stairway to be called within weeks and the 50-foot stairway to be installed this summer.

More than 1,000 cruise ship visitors are expected in Digby this October from one cruise ship and the passengers will be ferried in to the marina floats.

Federal officials thought the existing wooden stairway was unacceptable and the new aluminum version will be six feet wide.

Stairways that will raise and lower with the tide will also be used at the main wharf once the middle ell is removed and floating docks are installed for fishing vessels, said Hazelton. However, further development of the wharf will depend on construction of a breakwater to the south.

In announcing the federal funding, West Nova MP Greg Kerr said the investment

will make visiting Digby a little more efficient for tourism operators and visitors. “It’s a small project that will make a big difference in helping us promote this community as a regular stop for cruise ships and pleasure vessels in coming seasons,” said Kerr. “People come to see the harbour and eat the scallops,” said Hazelton. “This stairway will help get them off their vessels safely to explore our community while they’re here.”

ACOA’s investment is being made through the Innovative Communities Fund, which focuses on investments that lead to long-term employment and economic capacity building in rural communities.