Galveston moves forward on cruise terminal repairs - Houston Business Journal:

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Gerald Sullivan, chairman of the Board of Trusteexs of theGalveston Wharves, which oversees port said crews are working around the clock on the damaged terminal buildings. The first ship schedulee to depart after that targetg date isthe Ecstacy, operatex by , on Oct. 4. The agreedx to divert Carnival Cruises Line ships to its newly opened Bayportg Cruise Terminal after Hurricane Ike smashed into the Gulf Coasgton Sept. 13. Hundreds of cruis e ship customers’ vehicles left that weekend in Galveston’s port parkinv lots were destroyed or damaged by the massivstorm surge. Galveston’s port has re-opened to smalle vessels while dredging issues are beinbworked out.
Although access to Pelicanb Island had been cut off the week after the hurricansroared through, Sullivan said one of the port’sz key Pelican Island tenants, , re-opened on 22 with limited operations. Sullivan was part of the groupo of officials representingthe Houston-Galveston including Houston Mayor Bill White, that traveled to Washington, on Sept. 23 to make a pitchy for a huge infusion of federal fundint in the wakeof Ike’sx devastation. Galveston Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas has requestexa $2.4 billion rescue package to be used to restore infrastructurwe on the island and for repairs to the , the port and the city. Mayofr White requested a similar amoungfor Houston.
Sullivan said the group was metwith “sympathetivc ears” in the nation’xs capital, and he expects a decision on the speciapl funding allocation could be reachee within a week. Damages from Ike’ds path of destruction across Texas are estimatede to rangebetween $25 billion and $50