YOUNGSTOWN
One-day ferry service looks to the future
By THOMAS J. PROHASKA
NEWS NIAGARA BUREAU
8/27/2005










Charles Lewis/Buffalo News
Richard Vantine on Friday secures his labor of love, the 1939 Chris-Craft that once provided water taxi service to Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont.

YOUNGSTOWN - Some important hurdles remain before a permanent ferry service from here to Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont., can be re-established. But at least they can try it for a day.

Thoughts of a well-remembered past and what officials see as a bright future were on the minds of those gathered for a news conference Friday at the Youngstown Yacht Club, where a one-day ferry experiment was officially announced.

On Sept. 17, Whirlpool Jet Boat Tours will provide a 48-passenger craft that will make the 2,000-foot trip across the Niagara River every half-hour from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Both villages will be offering special promotional events that day.

The fare for the five-minute trip will be $5 for adults and $2 for children. The terminals will be the Youngstown Village Dock on Water Street and the Whirlpool Jet Boat dock on Melville Street in Niagara-on-the-Lake. Niagara County and Canadian officials have worked on the plan for more than a year.

County Legislature Vice Chairman Clyde L. Burmaster said if the experiment is a success, the sides will try to establish a privately run daily service during the tourist season in 2006 or 2007.

"I believe this little boat could be the biggest tourism generator for the United States side since the (Seneca Niagara) casino," Burmaster said.

Youngstown Mayor Neil C. Riordan said the five-minute boat ride would replace a minimum 90-minute road trip over the Lewiston-Queenston Bridge to get from one village to the other. Kate Stoutenburg, a Niagara County planner, said the main problems are finding a private operator to provide the boat service, and setting up permanent customs stations in Youngstown and Niagara-on-the-Lake. Neither country's government wants to pay for construction, she said.

Temporary customs desks will be used Sept. 17, but Stoutenburg said Canada Customs wants to be reimbursed for the cost of staffing a permanent Niagara-on-the-Lake location.

It's unknown who would do that or where the money would come from. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection Service is willing to absorb the staffing cost, according to Stoutenburg.

Burmaster said five boat operators have expressed some interest in providing the service, and another presented his business card to Stoutenburg as she was being interviewed.

On Sept. 17, Youngstown will close Main Street for a "Wine, Jazz and Culture" festival, while Niagara-on-the-Lake will augment its usual weekend crowds with a Boy Scout Jamboree expected to draw 1,700 Scouts.

The 25-cents-a-ride water taxi that crossed the river between the two villages was discontinued in the late 1970s, after almost 40 years of service. But the 10-passenger boat, the Linda Lee, was moored alongside the Youngstown dock Friday.

It was restored by Richard Vantine of Youngstown, who bought it from the Lewiston-Porter School District more than 20 years ago.