Casco Bay - Changes are coming for the Casco Bay Ferry Terminal in Portland.

It's the first signigicant upgrade to the facility since it opened nearly twenty-five years ago.

"If you can imagine at night with all the lights on, all the glass," General Manager Hank Berg points to the spot the new waiting room will be located. "The view will be great."

Beyond simply the great view however, Berg says the ferry lines has outgrown its current configuration, a building which opened back to 1988.

25-years ago, the ferries carried about 500 thousand passengers a year, now it's more than one million.

"In the summer when it's jam packed full of people it gets very crowded in the current waiting room."

The "new" waiting room will double in size from 3,000 to 6,000 square feet. The picture windows allowing passengers to know exactly when their boat has arrived.

"Much better," says Denise Feeney, a resident of Little Diamond Island, "especially when you have friends and family coming down for a visit, it'll be easier for them too. When they're not sure what docks to go to or where their boat is, it'll be a lot more visible to them."

Phase one of the project also includes upgrading the pier's infastructure, shoring up docks and pilings underneath the terminal, and though Berg admits it will be a challenge, the construction will not interfere with the ferry schedule.

Regular passengers, like Mary Lavendier-Myers of Peaks Island, say they're just anxious to see a more modern facility. "I always called this the Dog Kennel, because of the way it looked. Shepherding dogs in between fencing like that."

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