If you used the section of Virginia Capital Trail along Richmond’s riverfront this week, you probably noticed heavy equipment on the Sugar Pad. Demolition of the raised concrete foundation is underway and progress is visible. Load by load, chunks of concrete and dirt are being hauled away from the site by dump trucks. After the concrete is removed, the site will be graded and seeded. With structural improvements to the Intermediate Terminal Dock complete and demolition of the Sugar Pad scheduled to be complete by June, Richmond is moving closer to becoming a port of call for small cruise ships.
Sugar Pad Demolition on March 8, 2017
While writing a blog about the demolition of the Sugar Pad earlier this week I became intrigued in the prospect of cruise ships docking on the riverfront. I did some digging and found a Richmond Times-Dispatch article written in October 2012 about a history cruise that planned to dock at Intermediate Terminal that month. According to the article a cruise ship named “Yorktown” was scheduled to dock at Intermediate Terminal Dock on Thursday, November 1, 2012. The cruise ship’s visit to Richmond was ultimately canceled as a result of damage sustained by other ports of call during Hurricane Sandy.
Richmond’s historic riverfront is no stranger to ships. Do you remember when Stone Brewing shipped its German fermenting vessels to Richmond via the James River and Intermediate Terminal Dock in October 2015? That was a pretty cool sight to see.