Belfast – May 10, 2011 – The Belfast City Council gave unanimous approval Monday, May 9, to a proposal from Front Street Shipyard to construct a 22,000-square-foot, 55-foot-tall building on a piece of city-owned land adjacent to the developer's Front Street property, formerly the Stinson Seafood Company sardine canning business. Building 5, as it is known, would be used to service boats up to 160 feet in length, incorporating a pair of 40-foot-high doors, through which a massive mobile travel lift used to hoist boats out of the water nearby, could pass. Shipyard representatives have said the building is necessary to perform the sort of large-scale work that would distinguish the new business as a world-class facility.
When plans were initially released, it was unclear what public reaction to the massive building would be. An initial public hearing April 19 drew a handful of qualified concerns from direct neighbors of the proposed building, many of whom voiced support for the shipyard business.
On Monday, a number of residents, including neighbors and business owners spoke in support of the new building, specifically the option ultimately approved by the Council, that would locate Building 5 along the east side of Front Street municipal parking lot on roughly an acre-and-a-half of city-owned land.
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