M.S. Norgoma could become floating coffee shop, tourist destination in Tobermory harbour

Tobermory Real Estate Investors Inc. could be towing the M.S. Norgoma away from Sault Ste. Marie as early as this fall if Mike Goman’s plan to convert the 188-foot vessel into a coffee shop and tourist destination doesn’t take on any water before then.     

Sault Ste. Marie city council agreed to sell the former floating museum ship to Goman and business partner Dr. George Harpur for $2,500 in July, but there are still a number of hurdles to be cleared before the Norgoma is towed from its private berth near Algoma Steel to Little Tub Harbour in Tobermory. 

Goman, who has more than 30 years of experience in real estate development throughout North America, is eyeing the M.S. Norgoma as a way of expanding his longstanding business interests in Tobermory, which include The Coffee Shop and The Sweet Shop, the latter being established in Tobermory about four decades ago. 

“The Coffee Shop is in a little-bitty building about 600 square feet, and we needed to expand it for quite awhile,” said Goman, speaking to SooToday from the offices of Goman York Property Advisors in East Hartford, Connecticut. “The problem is the harbour is very small, and there’s only a dozen or so properties.”

The plan is to use the restaurant and lounge areas of the Norgoma to house The Coffee Shop, and use the outdoor deck as a seating area. Goman says that the remaining areas of the vessel could be converted into a floating museum.

“What we would need of the Norgoma to run our coffee shop and expand it is a relatively small piece of the Norgoma, so then the question then became, what else could we do with it?” said Goman. “Well obviously, it’s a great piece of marine heritage and has a very direct connection to Tobermory, so that was the logical next step.”

The floating museum was just the initial thought - since then, Goman has had people approach  him with ideas, including an art gallery, restaurant and brew pub.  

Norgoma sale hinges on approval from Northern Bruce Peninsula council, assessment of vessel 

There are some variables at play when it comes to the designs Tobermory Real Estate Investors Inc. have on the ship. 

First and foremost, it has to get approval from the Municipality of Northern Bruce Peninsula. Goman has submitted the proposal to council in hopes that he can enter into an agreement in principle with the municipality before he can deploy a team to the Sault in order to assess the state of the Norgoma. 

That agreement would include some criteria, that could include clauses surrounding the diminishment of revenue for municipality and the investor group’s obligation to preserve the number of pre-existing docks at the harbour, among other considerations. 

“I think it can be done, so if I get an agreement with the municipality along those lines - you know, set some basic criteria - then my goal is to get a team of engineers and architects and people up to Purvis Marine and get on the ship and do a complete assessment of what the task would be of converting it and towing it,” he said. “That’s the timeline - if we can get an agreement in principle with the municipality by the end of September, I’d get people up to the Sault right after that and give them a month to do their work.”

Goman says that ultimately, it’s his long-running record of doing business in Tobermory, and the town’s proximity to southern Ontario markets that could potentially make the Norgoma project a success.  

“I’ve got as much experience running businesses up there as anybody, and I know the traffic volumes, and I know how the economy runs,” he said. “I’m pretty comfortable that Norgoma would be very well received, and I think, be very successful there.” 

“At the end of the day, it’s the proximity to the southern Ontario markets that drives that whole area.”

City feeling good about potential Norgoma sale, future of Sault waterfront  

Meanwhile in Sault Ste. Marie, Tom Vair, chief administrative officer of community development and enterprise services for the City, told SooToday the City is feeling positive about the potential sale of the Norgoma - but right now, it hinges on Northern Bruce Peninsula leadership. 

“We’re feeling positive. We’re hoping that the township of Northern Bruce Peninsula sees merit in Mike Goman’s proposal to locate the Norgoma there, and based on our conversations with Mike, it does seem like he’s got an existing successful business which he think he can expand and use part of the Norgoma, as well as he’s got some other ideas for the ship that I think may make it a success in Tobermory,” he said. 

Since acquiring the M.S. Norgoma from the Ontario government for one dollar back in the 1970’s, Vair says there have been a number of attempts made over the years to make the vessel economically sustainable, including the efforts of the St. Mary’s River Marine Heritage Centre, a not-for-profit organization that acquired the Norgoma from the City in 1981. 

City Council issued an eviction notice for the vessel in early 2018, which led to some controversy surrounding the way the eviction was handled leading up the vessel's eventual removal from the marina area. 

“I know the board of the Norgoma certainly put a lot of effort in over the time it was here, and they looked at a number of different business options and ideas for the Norgoma,” said Vair. “Ultimately, they weren’t able to come up with a successful model that would keep enough revenues to really develop the ship and maintain it.”

The board of directors for the M.S. Norgoma was not available for comment. 

The City is now looking at what the future could hold in terms of further development of Sault Ste. Marie’s waterfront. Vair says the City is looking at ideas for tourism services and product development with Sault Tourism to identify projects that could be a “benefit overall to the community.”

“I guess beauty’s in the eye of beholder, and depending on people’s views - but we received a lot of positive comments about the appearance of the marina and the waterfront with the ship removed,” said Vair. “And I know some people like the ship and probably have a different opinion, but certainly we’ve had a lot of positive comments about the esthetics and the appearance of the marina since the vessel has been relocated.”

- with files from David Helwig and Northern Ontario Business