TITUSVILLE, Fla. – The day after a big change of plans for building a new cruise terminal, the state of Florida said it’s happy Port Canaveral isn’t favoring the giant cruise industry over another vital part of the local economy - space.
In a letter addressed to the port, Florida’s transportation and commerce secretaries threatened to cut funding for port projects if the port built the new terminal on the site of a current cargo berth that’s important to space operations.
Wednesday, the port commission voted 4-1 to go back to the drawing board.
Then on Thursday, FDOT secretary Jared Perdue and Gov. Ron DeSantis addressed resolving the conflict when they appeared at the airport in Titusville.
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”We’re very pleased that Port Canaveral has been responsive to our letter,” Perdue said. “We just wanna see that berth continue to be used for what the investment was intended for.”
DeSantis called Brevard County the best place to launch in the country, adding that he wants to keep it that way before he addressed the port’s change of plans.
”We’ve had some of the major companies say that this is important for them to keep, so I think we can do that,” he said of the cargo berth. “And then we can, I think, still have pathways to be able to help the cruise industry, as well.”
The governor was also at the Valiant Air Command Warbird Museum to award nearly $6 million to help the Titusville airport develop 450 acres next to the airport.
The airport said Space Coast Innovation Park will be home to about a half-dozen buildings for new aerospace companies.
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