Whitehorse residents will soon be treated to a new $1.9-million riverfront wharf, and can now choose which design they like best.

The territory's Department of Community Services is holding a public consultation this week at the Visitor's Information Centre. Residents can go and peruse three design concepts, and fill out a questionnaire about which they like best and what they expect.

The wharf project is part of the larger Whitehorse Waterfront Development project, which is funded through a combined $22-million contribution agreement between the federal and territorial governments under the Canadian Strategic Infrastructure Fund (CSIF).

The riverfront project is to be set up at the foot of Main Street, and will include a wharf, lighting, parking and trails that are funded by the CSIF in the amount of $1.9 million.

Pat Molloy, the manager for CSIF programming for the Yukon government, told the Star the development project will work within a $1.9-million budget, but as it progresses, the price tag may change, based on a number of factors.

Those types of details are not known now, he said, as the project is solely at the public consultation stage.

'This is just the concept to get things rolling,' he said.

Final, detailed design plans will have to go through an approval process with the Yukon Environmental and Socioeconomic Assessment Board (YESAB), which gives the public anther chance to comment.

For now, public consultations will be held from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. today and Thursday, and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Residents can also go online to see design sketches and fill out the questionnaire, which asks whether residents support a riverfront wharf, what they expect its primary uses will be, and which design concept is preferred.

The first design concept is a simplified wood deck with railings at the same level of the current paved pathway. Construction on this option would be, 'some type of retaining wall built to the river's edge with earth infill,' say department documents obtained by the Star.

The second option is a landscaped, tiered wharf that would allow public access down to the water's edge.

This concept includes a multi-level viewing structure and lookout point over the water near the White Pass and Yukon Route railway end of the proposed wharf area.

The third, and most elaborate, design concept is a replica riverboat deck installed on piles off the riverbank, and has a second level viewing area. Deck access would be by two wide gangplanks at either end.

The area between the gangplanks would be used to protect and provide a display of original wharf pilings, say department documents. This design also proposes that interpretive panels be built into the deck railings to describe the history of riverboats that frequented Whitehorse.

The design concepts have been created by local architect Charles McLaren, though a public request for proposals will be issued to local firms wanting to bid on the development detailed design and construction, said Molloy.

Construction is slated to begin in 2009, and completed that same year, he said.

If construction ends up blocking the frequently-used riverbank trail, Molloy said, the blockages would be brief, and detours to the walking path would be set up, so as not to disrupt dog walkers, joggers and residents taking a stroll.

In its active development stages, the project will be spearheaded by Tom Renwick, from the Community Services department.

The riverfront wharf project has been more than 25 years in the making.

The Yukon government purchased the land from the White Pass and Yukon Route in the mid-1980s.

In the late 1990s, the city began making plans for the entire waterfront development, and these concepts were used in determining which CSIF projects would be deemed priority 'A'.

A proposal for waterfront development projects was then submitted to the CSIF by the Yukon government in 2004, before documents were signed in 2006 giving the waterfront development projects in Whitehorse and in Carcross the green light. Carcross' waterfront development has been completed.

In 2007, the Yukon government hired McLaren to draft design concept sketches to prepare for the current public input-gathering session.