Gloucester Marine Terminal Groundbreaking Ceremony

photographs by Sharon Lowe

Frank Elliott, owner of Gloucester Marine Terminal, welcomed over 100 people who gathered at the site of Gloucester's new cruise ship terminal on a brisk morning in early November to celebrate Gloucester Marine Terminal’s groundbreaking.

Mr. Elliott recounted the history of the site, on which thousands of tons of fish were landed each day until about 15 years ago. He pointed to a new era of promise for Gloucester Harbor and vowed to keep Gloucester Marine Terminal open for public access to Gloucester's historic working waterfront.

The ceremony was open to the public. Among the guests were state and local officials, business people, bankers, investors, civic leaders, police and firefighters.

Mr. Elliott publicly recognized several former employees of Elliott Stevedoring, with whom he used to work unloading ships at this site over 20 years ago (see history). He thanked them for their support and for attending the ceremony.

Several other speakers shared the podium erected in front of the old Gorton's Research Lab building, which will be torn down as part of the renovation.

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Captain Greg Ketchen representing Gloucester Harbor Plan hosted the Ceremony and gave a brief history of the project to date.

Massachusetts State Senator Bruce Tarr praised Frank Elliott for following his dream and working incredibly hard to make it a reality. Senator Tarr emphasized, "Yes Frank, we can bring cruise ships to Gloucester."

Rick Armstrong of the Massachusetts Seaport Council offered congratulations from Massachusetts Lieutenant-Governor Kerry Healy with whom Frank and Rick worked very closely to make Gloucester Marine Terminal a reality.

Gloucester Mayor John Bell congratulated Mr. Elliott on seeing this project through, expressed his gratitude that it preserves the working waterfront and personally thanked Mr. Elliott for vowing to keep the property open for public access.

Mike Costello, Executive Director of the Cape Ann Chamber of Commerce, praised the new terminal, saying that it provided a tremendous boost for tourism in Gloucester.

After the speaches, Frank Elliott along with Mayor John Bell, Gloucester City Council President Al Swekla and Rick Armstrong of the Massachusetts Seaport Council broke ground, while Greg Ketchen proclaimed, "Let the building begin!"

Guests boarded the Boston Harbor Cruises ship Bay State for refreshments after the ceremony. On the ship were two displays showing the history of the site and plans for the future terminal building and luxury function facilities.