$1.5-Million Upgrade Planned for Harbor

As part of a plan to bring more commercial fishing to Ventura Harbor, the Port District will make $1.5 million in improvements to Harbor Village, including building larger docks, officials said Tuesday.

The money, a loan from the state’s Department of Boating and Waterways, will be paid back over 30 years, said Oscar Pena, general manager of the district.

The improvements will help the Port District pay off a $15-million bond it used to clear up a bankruptcy from 1993, after a breach-of-contract lawsuit.

“This is just like a business loan,” Pena said. “If we didn’t think it would increase our revenues, we would not borrow the money.”

The money also will pay for gangway improvements, repairs to the promenade around Ventura Harbor Village and the rebuilding of the rock slope that edges the marina. The marina will also be reconfigured to accommodate more boats, including more slips for larger vessels, Pena said.

Most of the current slips fit boats that are less than 45 feet long, but the trend in commercial fishing is for boats to be between 45 and 100 feet in length. Larger vessels can make longer trips and carry more fish. In Ventura, the docks have a waiting list for big boats, Pena said.

The improvements, already approved, are part of an ambitious $100-million proposal for developing the harbor. The proposal calls for building 300 apartments on the northeast end of the harbor, a marine research center and a two-story, million-gallon aquarium.