Midland waters will be welcoming royalty next year when the Island Princess moves to town to dock near Pettersen Park.
The boat, which has offered tours and cruises from Orillia since 1984, has been purchased by Georgian Shores Catering owners and executive chefs Dave Scoffield and Wade Plewes.
The pair were joined by Southern Georgian Bay Chamber of Commerce general manager Cathy Tait, who outlined the plans for council earlier this week that also involve seeking a waiving of or reduction in dockage fees.
"We have exciting news," said Tait, who was presenting on behalf of the two owners. "Georgian Shores Catering has purchased the Island Princess and will be bringing it to town in spring. The planned sailing schedule for next year is July 1, once painting and maintenance is done in early spring."
She said the schedule features daily lunch, afternoon sightseeing and dinner cruises until Thanksgiving with a dedicated person present at the chamber's downtown office to sell tickets.
"We are projecting from 25,000 to 40,000 passengers, considering a late start," she said, talking about the 66-by-27-foot vessel that accommodates up to 200 passengers and a crew of six. "Even if COVID continues to be an issue, we still believe this is achievable, significantly impacting the tourism economy in Midland."
Tait said town staff have suggested an alternative location, should the Miss Midland continue to stay in its current location.
"There's an alternate location over by the ADM mill," she said. "A laneway would be needed to service the boat and an upgrade needed to the power to service the boat."
Scoffield said there was more planned than the daily cruises, such as theme nights and holding events when the boat is docked.
"We're really excited about the boat," he said. "Since this is going to be a partnership to create a lot of business for everyone in town, more people will get a piece of the pie. It's not a competition. It's not a conflict. I want everyone to win on this."
With that, they had all of council excited about the project, but some still wanted to make sure all angles were addressed.
"It comes down to the question of logistics," said Coun. Jon Main. "We have lots of big boats trying to access our small dock. Do we have the capacity to host the boat? What's the timeframe for being able to set this up? What's the total ask we're pondering here?"
Coun. Jim Downer said he had an issue with waiving docking fees, lest the Miss Midland owners come back with the same ask.
Plewes could only answer some parts of the questions.
"That part of the dock is better for us," he said, talking about why he was okay with staff's idea of docking the boat near Pettersen Park. "Our boats are two complete different boats and two different businesses. We will be colleagues and not competitors."
Coun. Bill Gordon welcomed the idea.
"This is great. I think it's fantastic," he said. "It's risky, but all the risk is yours. We can do everything we can to help you out. From my perspective, I would be content to see no dockage fees for 2021 and consider it as a seed grant. It's space no one has occupied for a long time and do electrical improvements at a cost-recovery agreement."
The rest of Main's questions, said Andy Campbell, executive d​irector of environment and infrastructure, will be answered through a staff report that will be brought forward at the next council meeting.
"We already have a head start and plan on bringing a report in January," he said. "Some of the information tonight was new to me, so we will have to consider the financial implications."
Tom Gostick, previous owner of the Island Princess, could not be reached for comment.
