(MOBILE, Ala.) It's been one year since Carnival Cruise Lines set sail from Mobile for the final time.
Since then, Mobile's 20 million dollar cruise terminal has looked pretty much like a ghost town.
And there's no word of any new cruise line coming to Mobile.
So what happens to the terminal?
The big crowds left a year ago -- but a massive debt still remains.
The city still owes 26 million dollars on an empty Alabama Cruise Terminal and it's the citizens who could be with that bill for years to come.
"I still have the dream in my heart that it's going to be full of people going down that gangway over there," says Sheila Gurganus, with the Alabama Cruise Terminal. "I know in my heart that we'll get a ship. It's just a matter of time," she says.
It was October of 2004 when the city of Mobile joined the international cruise industry.
And, it was seven years later when Carnival decided to depart -- with very little warning.
The city borrowed 18.6 million dollars to buy the terminal outright.
They added 2.6 million dollars to built a gangway.
In all -- Mobile still owes 26 million dollars for the terminal with no ship in sight.
"It actually comes now to five thousand dollars a day," says Council member Bess Rich. "Yes, that's how much it costs to have it empty," says Rich.
Christmas parties, weddings and proms are just a few events that are now being held inside the terminal.
Gurganus says she did not make a million dollars in the past year -- but says she made lots of money on the events.
Rich says at some point, the city must find a more substantial use for the cruise terminal.
A shopping venue or upscale restaurant are just a few ideas.
AT SOME POINT... SOONER...RATHER THAN LATER...THE CITY MUST FIND A MORE SUBSTANTIAL USE FOR THE CRUISE TERMINAL.
