KINGSTON — If economic development is the game, the Port of Kingston is the name.
Five years ago the Port adopted a comprehensive master plan, as it’s required to do so, and this summer will see all the community’s desires outlined in the plan come to fruition.
Above all Kingston citizens wanted to have more events held at the port.
Mike Wallace Park has been expanded so more than an acre of lawn space is now at the port. A 20-by-40-foot kayak docking slip is being built and should be in place by Memorial Day.
Kayakers can pay a monthly fee to dock their kayaks at the port and there could even be the possibility of renting kayaks at the port.
A multi-use recreation facility — a stage and performance center — is planned and should be built by the Fourth of July.
Port Commissioner Pete DeBoer said a permit is already available from the county. As soon as a contractor is selected construction can begin.
The Port has also ordered its very own electrical car, which will also arrive before Memorial Day.
Just like the park expansion, the kayak slip and stage the electric car will spur on Kingston’s economy.
“The benefit is it makes the port a more desirable place to visit and whenever somebody takes that up town they spend money,” DeBoer said.
Once the 2009 boating season is over the port will do some major rehabilitation on all the docks at the marina as the initial steps of the next five-year plan, but that still leaves several years to plan for.
Future planning efforts and ideas are being generated and on Wednesday morning the Kingston Stakeholders met with the port commissioners to talk about future economic development.
The discussion centered on the feasibility of a boutique hotel on port property.
“If the economy improves there might be a good reason (to build a hotel),” DeBoer said. “We’re not building a hotel, but it might be a good time to just talk about it.”
Discussion centered on two pieces of property, the area right behind the port office where the tent stands and further from the water where Central Avenue and West Kingston Road meet.
The stakeholders were supportive of the small-scale boutique hotel being built on port property and had done a little investigating of their own.
Stakeholder Dave Wetter emphasized the importance of making Kingston a destination place. A destination by definition, he said, implies a place to stay.
“Probably the second most important economic development project the Port of Kingston could undertake would be the delivery of a boutique-type hotel,” Wetter said. The most important economic development is the implementation of the foot ferry.
Wetter proceeded to explain why it would be more advantageous for the Port to take on the project rather than a private developer because; the port owns property closest to the foot ferry, owns a site large enough for a 35 to 50 room hotel, has ample parking space, has the money and bonding capacity and no debt and the increased rent stream to the port from a hotel could reduce the demand on taxpayers in the Port District.
“I mean who’s got all that stuff?” Wetter said. “We think you should get your arms around it and check it out.”
Stakeholder Peter Brachvogel met with hospitality consultant Robin Roselle and came away with a list of 20 factors that would be important to Kinston’s efforts. Among the 20: a hotel in Kingston should be at least 50 rooms but no more than 75; providing food and beverage service isn’t necessary and would actually deter guests from spending money in the community; meeting space for weddings and business retreats is key; and prices should not be greater than $150 a night with a variety of rooms and prices being offered.
The discussion has just begun and in no way is a boutique hotel in the works. However, idea sharing and digging into the efficacy of a hotel will continue as the commissioners and Stakeholders are setting up a meeting with Roselle for a date in May.
“There isn’t an urgency to this, but keeping this on a good clip would be good for the economy right now,” Brachvogel said.
