By
Rebecca Gibson |
SeaLink began construction work on its AUS$4 million ferry terminal on Kangaroo Island, Australia on 15 March. The Penneshaw Terminal is scheduled for completion in late 2013, when it will open for the peak holiday season.
The 645sqft building will include a café, a shop selling Kangaroo Island gifts, wine and produce, visitor information services, luggage storage and check-in areas, an elevator and a covered bridge over the water.
It will also have an undercover passenger waiting area for the tour and shuttle buses, as well as restrooms and facilities for the disabled.
The new ecological terminal will be constructed from local stone and Australian timber and will feature a cross-ventilation design, energy-efficient windows and solar panels. Rainwater will be collected and reused in the building.
SeaLink has contributed AUS$2.5 million to the terminal, while the state government has donated AUS$1.2 million through the Regional Development Infrastructure Fund and AUS$300,000 from the South Australian Tourism Commission’s tourism development support programme.
“Kangaroo Island is one of the nation’s greatest tourism treasures alongside Uluru, the Great Barrier Reef and Sydney Harbour,” said Giuliano Ursini, chairman of SeaLink Travel Group.
“This is our way of supporting a major Australian icon by developing essential infrastructure, which will ensure that Kangaroo Island remains one of Australia’s most loved and popular tourism destinations.”
SeaLink ferries transport more than 200,000 passengers across Backstairs Passage, from the mainland to Kangaroo Island every year. The company also built an AUS$2.4 million terminal in Cape Jervis in 2005.