By BRIAN BULLOCK

Port of Brookings Harbor Manager Russ Crabtree said Monday he should have a confirmation letter by the end of the week on a funding package that will allow the port to begin its Phase II development.

The $1.5 million funding package requested by the port from the Oregon Economic and Community Development Department is a combination of low interest loans and grants. It will allow the port to begin a number of projects, including a cold storage facility, more commercial/retail buildings, and a service and repair dock.

Crabtree said once the funding is confirmed, it's full speed ahead with development plans.

He said the architectural design, preliminary engineering, final engineering, building permits and requests-for-proposals should take just 90 days to complete. He added that he wants much of the construction done by the end of summer.

"I want to make sure the roof's done and we're inside doing work when the weather hits," Crabtree said.

The expansion proposes to add 19,000 square feet of commercial and retail space. However, the end result might be something less than that total, Crabtree said.

"Market analysis says there's a need for 7,000 to 9,000 square feet of commercial and retail space in the Brookings Harbor area," Crabtree said. "We're proposing 19,000 square feet, but when it comes time to fish or cut bait, we might not have that much."

Crabtree said he has had contact with 26 prospective tenants who have shown interest in setting up shop in the port area. But, he said, when it's time to sign on the dotted line, "Fish-or-cut-bait-time" he calls it, some of the interest wanes.

He added the port will only construct as much space as it requires for signed tenants.

"From the day we opened the doors (on Phase I), we've never had a vacancy there because we built it right," he explained.

In addition to more businesses down at the port, Crabtree said port management wants to improve business for its oldest tenants ? its fishermen. The new cold storage facility will do that, he said.

A state-of-the-art facility would benefit fishermen in a number of ways, Crabtree said.

First, it would let fishermen hold products for extended periods. That would allow them to avoid downturns in the market prices of their goods. It would also allow fishermen to market to Asian buyers with catches that are not normally sold in this country.

The new facility will abut the Harbor Ice Company, which is the newest ice facility on the Oregon Coast, according to Crabtree.

"We've never at this port been able to tap into the underutilized species," he explained. "Hagfish and slime eels. Those type of fish are delicacies in Asia.

"It's a tourist attraction," he said of the processing facility. "People want to see how it comes off the boats and how it's processed."

Allowing local fishermen to hold their catches while market prices are down and being able to market to different consumers will be an economic boom to a beleaguered industry, he said.

"We think our commercial and recreational fishing industries have a linear relationship with the tourism industry. We want to have a port capable of capturing that relationship," he said.

Another benefit of the 8,000-square-foot facility will be to the agriculture industry. Crabtree said both bulbs and cranberries can be kept in cold storage prior to shipment.

The final piece of the Phase II equation is a new service and repair dock and receiving station.

Crabtree said that, like the cold storage facility, the lack of a receiving dock, heavy lift dock or shoreside repair facility combines with catch restrictions to hamper the commercial fishing industry in Southern Oregon. The port wants to alleviate that problem.

"It's a historical part of our cultural fabric," Crabtree said of the fishing industry. "To let it go away is a crime. The best ambassadors for our area are our fishermen. If you want an education, talk to a fisherman about his boats. Chances are you'll get a colorful description, but it will be informative."

Another improvement the port will be making in the near future is to make it more pedestrian and user-friendly. Plans are in the works for added boardwalks, sidewalks and bikepaths to make it easier to get around.

The port's facilities are among the newest on the coast and they've all been built by port personnel, Crabtree said.

"We have the best port on the Oregon Coast," Crabtree explained. "To us, the port is kind of the heart and soul of both communities here. I think it always will be."