Cruise boats will call on Lewiston
Facilities for cruise boats being constructed at Port of Lewiston; expected to be finished by March
LEWISTON — American Cruise Lines plans to moor in Lewiston and Clarkston in the future when more places to anchor its vessels are ready.
“American values our strong relationships and partnerships with many regional ports and communities,” Alexa Paolella, a spokesperson for the company, said in an email.
“Our future plans include dockings at both the Port of Clarkston and the Port of Lewiston, enabling additional opportunities for our guests to explore on shore, while contributing to positive economic developments in the region,” she said.
Paolella provided the update at a time when a new facility for overnight cruise boats is expected to be finished at the Port of Lewiston in the middle of March, just before the start of the next season, for a route along the Columbia and Snake rivers. Until this project is completed, Lewiston doesn’t have facilities geared toward receiving cruise boats.
Instead, cruise boats have usually docked at the Port of Clarkston, which has two places for them to dock. One is north of the Holiday Inn and a second at its former crane dock at 14th Street.
American Cruise Lines is adding a gangway at a site along the Clearwater River just downstream from Lewiston’s railroad bridge on the north side of the waterway.
That gangway along with three existing circular concrete and rock structures driven multiple feet into the riverbottom that have tie-ons for boats will provide a new place for one or more cruise boats to stay, said Scott Corbitt, general manager of the Port of Lewiston.
The concrete and rock structures are being upgraded at the Port of Lewiston as part of the project previously reported to have an estimated cost of $1.6 million, he said.
American Cruise Lines will pay the Port of Lewiston a lease rate of $50,000 per year and $400 per docking to use the facility, Corbitt said.
The Port of Lewiston will upgrade the site using $2 million from the state of Idaho, allocated by Gov. Brad Little, in improvements scheduled to be ready at the same time as the mooring area, Corbitt said.
Those improvements will include a driveway and turnaround area large enough for buses, a parking lot with 75 spaces, a pedestal for the gangway American Cruise Lines is adding and landscaping, Corbitt said.
Two more phases of upgrades are planned for the site, but are not scheduled at this time.
The first would add an outdoor amphitheater and renovate a 6,000-square-foot former maintenance shop for a log yard to take advantage of views of the Clearwater River, Corbitt said.
The amphitheater would be a venue for movies or live entertainment such as concerts, plays or dance performances, he said.
The concept for the building is still being developed, Corbitt said. Possibilities include a cultural center, gift shop, brewery or winery, or some combination of those.
A campground, walking trails and fishing piers would be constructed in the third phase, Corbitt said.
The infrastructure will serve thousands of travelers in the Lewiston-Clarkston Valley.
About 20,000 overnight cruise boat passengers visited the valley in the season that ended Friday, said Chris Rasmussen, executive director of the Port of Clarkston.
Besides American Cruise Lines vessels, the Sea Bird and Sea Lion of Lindblad Expeditions or National Geographic, also made stops in Clarkston, Rasmussen said.
American Cruise Lines runs the American Song, American Harmony, American West, American Jazz and American Pride on its Portland-to-Clarkston route, Paolella said.
Prices for the nine-day, eight-night journeys on American Cruise Lines start at $5,995, according to the company’s website.
Excursions and entertainment in Clarkston include a Hells Canyon jet boat trip, Rivaura Winery tasting, Hells Canyon “flight seeing” trip and a complimentary visit to the Lewis & Clark Discovery Center at Hells Canyon State Park, according to the American Cruise Lines’ website.
American Cruise Lines is planning to offer more activities in the Lewiston-Clarkston Valley going forward, Paolella said.
Williams may be contacted at ewilliam@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2261.
