LIVERPOOL Mayor Joe Anderson last night confirmed his dreams of creating a stunning cruise terminal departure lounge in the riverfront Cunard Building have been torpedoed by strict security controls.
But the mayor defended his £10m purchase of the one time headquarters of the world’s best known shipping line.
Instead the one-time sailor and his team will have to go back to the drawing board to find a replacement for the temporary, marquee-like check-in area close to the cruise terminal.
It seems the logistics of moving passengers from A to Sea would not only have cost millions of pounds, it would also compromise what is the epicentre of Liverpool’s World Heritage Site.
Monorail
Things have changed since the days when first class passengers arrived at what was Cunard’s first class passenger lounge before strolling over to the Princes Landing Stage to board their ocean-going liners. These days you have to go through a massive security check before they’ll even let you set foot in the cruise terminal.
Border controls, now stricter than ever, pose a problem for a check-in facility without a secure link to the gangway of departing liners.
Various suggestions – even a monorail – have been put forward as a way of meeting new maritime security regulations. It is a wonder they didn’t even throw in the popular Church Street sky-ride as a potential carrier of cruise line travellers.
Maritime consultants Royal Haskoning were commissioned by the city council to carry out a feasibility study to explore the potential of using the ground floor of the Cunard Building as a cruise liner terminal facility.
Their report, due to be released at the end of this month, will reveal a range of options could cost anything between £5m and £60m.
I See No Ships: Mayor Anderson's hopes of turning the ground floor of the Cunard Builidng into a cruise passenger terminal are dashed owing to unfeasable costs of transporting checked-in travellers across the Pier Head to the gangways
The Mayor commented: “We have, in addition to cost, to be mindful of the fact that we do not want to do anything that impacts on the World Heritage site the building is on. In light of these findings it is clear we will not be able to progress with this plan.
“However I want to reassure the city that we will find a solution and we will create a first class cruise liner terminal for our city and we have already begun conversations about other possible waterfront locations.”
Inside the Cunard Building in its glory days
A number of tenants who occupy office space in the Cunard Building are likely to be joined by new tenants, says the mayor, adding to the £800,000-a year rental income. Earlier this year, Mayor Joe also told Liverpool Confidential how he hoped the Cunard Building, which lies in the middle of the Three Graces, would house a five star restaurant.
Resurrecting the old departure lounger as a cruise terminal check-in would have been the icing on the cake.
