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Construction on new terminal at Port Canaveral continues

CAPE CANVERAL, Fla. — Construction of the new $50 million cruise terminal at Port Canaveral is now in its third week and Channel 9's Melonie Holt spoke with residents who are excited about what the project means for the community.

Brevard resident Bud McGinn took a closer look Monday at the construction of Port Canaveral's cruise terminal 1, located on the south side of Canaveral Harbor.

The terminal will allow passengers and crew to walk to nearby dining and entertainment options.

"The ships are going to dock here and if there's something here for the people to stay, they'll stay and not go to Orlando," said McGinn.

Port Canaveral CEO John Walsh told Channel 9 the 187,500-square-foot facility will be able to accommodate some pretty big ships.

"We'll be able to process ships of 6,000 passengers or more, so any ship in the design or construction phase can call this terminal home," said Walsh.

The terminal is being built with a combination of port equity and financing. The port will, however, continue to seek assistance from the state for some portion of the project, which Walsh expects will have a huge economic impact in the region.

"This terminal -- just with the cruise ship coming in -- will be about 150 jobs and will boost the net economic impact of the port by $250 million," said Walsh. "That's a large economic impact to the terminal and the central Florida region."

The terminal is scheduled to open in November. The port said the design of the new terminal will allow it to expand later for the next generation of megaships.