Tom Glenn Spit & Bellwether on the Bay

Creation

By the 1980s, increasing demand for marina space both for fishing and pleasure-craft prompted the port to undertake another substantial expansion project. The target for this expansion was the Inner Basin, a shallow section of water tucked behind the Squalicum Marina. Using essentially the same method of dredging employed in the 1912-1913 Whatcom Creek project, the port began work in 1980. When completed, the project created nearly 51 acres of new moorage space as well as 48 acres of upland spit created by the dredge spoils. The resulting man-made peninsula was, until 2002, informally referred to as "Tom Glenn Spit," named after longtime port manager Tom Glenn.

Further Developments

Squalicum Harbor saw few further changes until the late 1990s, when the Port of Bellingham began planning an ambitious project to re-energize Tom Glenn Spit. By 2002, the port had created a 1.6-acre public park, Tom Glenn Common, and had granted a ground lease to the Peter Paulsen Company, which financed the construction of a 68-room luxury hotel named “The Bellwether”. 

The peninsula's name was changed in 2002 to "Bellwether on the Bay" after the Bellwether Hotel and Anthony's Homeport restaurant were built on the property. The office / retail building adjacent to the hotel claimed a 95% occupancy rate in its first year. Ultimately, this $1.2 million project created about 800 moorage berths, bringing the total number of moorage slips in Squalicum Harbor to 1,417.

Bellwether Gate

In 2008, the port began the second phase of Bellwether development, entering into a long-term capital lease with local developer David Ebenal to build four new buildings at Bellwether on the Bay. This Bellwether Gate project will add 137,000 square feet of office, residential, and mixed use to the waterfront. The largest of the four buildings was completed in 2010; the other three buildings are scheduled for completion by 2012.

Next: Fairhaven and the Bellingham Cruise Terminal