Brockport, Sweden officials
participate in Fast Ferry meeting

More than 100 people gathered in Brockport to participate in a "Fast Ferry Public Information Night" March 18. The highlight of the evening was a special presentation by representatives of the Canadian American Transportation Systems (CATS), the operators of the fast ferry.

Senator George Maziarz, chairman of the Senate Committee on Tourism, Recreation and Sports Development said, "The fast ferry will be an experience unlike any other for the people of our area."

Special guests at the meeting, in addition to the CATS representatives, were Assemblyman Charles Nesbitt, Assemblyman Bill Reilich, Monroe County Legislators Wayne Zyra and Jim Colby, Brockport Mayor Josephine Matela and Town of Sweden Supervisor Nat Lester, III.

"The fast ferry will be an important bridge linking our two cities for commerce and recreation," Nesbitt said.

Matela said the meetings "went great." As one of the officials on the panel, Matela helped field questions from members of the audience. "People were very excited and happy that we were able to provide them with a forum to have their questions answered and their concerns addressed," she said. "The ferry will be beneficial to the whole region and we are certainly hoping to make Brockport a destination for visitors."

Scott Winner, Brockport's coordinator of economic development and marketing, said the area would benefit from the tourism trade. "We have a vital and beautiful Victorian-era commercial district that is about to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places and this helps make Brockport a very marketable destination," he said. "I took the representative from the Ontario Ministry of Tourism around the village. From the downtown shops to the Emily Knapp Museum, to the Morgan Manning House, she was blown away by what we have here."

While much focus has been placed on the ferry's tourism potential on Rochester and the Finger Lakes, Winner said the communities to the west, particularly along the Erie Canal, offer all manner of small town and rural diversions and entertainments. "There are many things that we take for granted but city dwellers would seek out as a change of pace," he said. "Sometimes we can't see the forest for the trees, the community assets we live next to and walk or drive by every day represent a potential gold mine. It's up to us to develop that potential."

The CATS high speed catamaran will be a year round virtual bridge between Rochester and Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The ferry will transport more than 750 people in luxurious surroundings - offering restaurants, duty free shopping and two movie theaters as well as roll-on/roll-off access for 220 automobiles. The trip would take two and one quarter hours from port to port and would be offered three times a day. Service begins in May 2004.