Beautification Plans forPort
Port DirectorMr. Paul Hurlston
The headquarters of the Port Authority ofthe Cayman Islands is about to be given a major face-lift.
This was revealed by Mr. Paul Hurlston, who said that in a fewmonths the entire waterfront area of the Port will be repaintedand refurbished to make it more aesthetically pleasant to Caymaniansand visitors alike.
"Among the things we are looking atis changing the colour of the building from this dark grey andalso to repaint the terminals so that people can more readilyand easily identify the terminals by specific colours," hetold Cayman Net News in an interview.
An artist'simpression of renovated Port facilities.
"We want to brighten the place, fixthe sea wall and have some nice, creative murals," he said.
Mr. Hurlston said plans for the beautificationare still to be finalised, but he disclosed that the Port hasbeen working with architect John Doak on the project.
Mr. Hurlston said that apart from sidewalksaround the Port building being made bigger, plans are afoot toupgrade a nearby rotunda that is not being used.
An impressionof the upgraded Waterfront.
"We will put some nice benches andflowers around there and open it up to the public and put somebenches on it so that people can use it," he said, addingthat Hard Rock Café will be sponsoring the beautificationproject.
The master plan for the landside improvementsis being developed by local architecture and imagineering firmCayman Style.
As a part of this master plan, the PortAuthority is undertaking a complete redecoration of the passengerterminals and their administration building. Cayman Style's imagineersand design consultant Gina Hew, have come up with a bold schemethat will transform Hogstye Bay into an exciting and colourfulport of call.
John Doak of Cayman Style notes: "The experience of being tendered into Hogstye Bay is an exhilaratingand unique one for cruise passengers who disembark directly ontoa dock at other ports of call. The natural shape of Hogstye Bayand our piers embrace you with open arms so we've tried to enhancethat island welcome with a fanfare of exciting, bright and Caribbeancolours, flags, flowers, live music, coupled with the friendlyCaymanian smiles of our greeters onshore."
He added: "Many of our onshore touroperators have already built themselves colourful stalls and signs.This stimulation of all the senses will make for a truly memorableexperience."
Meantime, Mr. Hurlston told Cayman Net Newsthat in addition to the beautification of the Port, Mr. Hurlstonsaid that construction of the new communications centre on theground floor was progressing well. This, he said, will be a revenueearner for the port.
"The Florida Cruise Ship Associationmade it clear that a better communications centre was one of thethings they wanted to see, because a lot of the crew would liketo send e-mail but it can be expensive on the ships and time issomewhat limited," Mr. Hurlston explained. "So the feelingis that if they can come into a port and have a communicationscentre which is close by, it would be of great assistance andconvenience."
Meantime, Mr. Hurlston said that September1 is the start date for cargo night operations at the Port.
He said it was expected that this new systemwould lead to greater efficiency, more productivity and less congestion.
"The whole thrust is to free up theroad system from the trucks. The fact that our cargo operationsand our cruise operations are right together presents a safetyissue. At this time they can't be separated so to end that, wewant to do the cruise in the day and move the cargo at night,"he said.
"I would like to think that it willbe faster than the day work because of less traffic. In termsof working the ships, we are in the process of upgrading our lightingsystem to facilitate the night work."
Mr. Hurlston said they have received thecooperation of the Port in Miami as they move towards the nightcargo operation.
"We have been working for the lastfive months trying to get ready. It had to start all the way backfrom Florida from what time goods are received and they had tochange their shipping schedules in conjunction with their customers,"he added.
The Port director said the new operationwill be done with the same number of staff, although it will costthe Port $72 more per container.
He noted however that this country's Portwas still one of the most efficient in the world.
"Some ports handle millions of containersper year. Cayman Port handles an average of 40,000 containersper year on 1.2 acres, so we are handling about 20000 per acre,so we are much more efficient than many of the other big portsin the world," he said.