New London — The state Bond Commission on Wednesday approved $4.5 million in funding to the Connecticut Port Authority for repairs and improvements at the Port of New London, something authority board Chairman Scott Bates called an “important down payment on moving our maritime economy ahead in Connecticut.”

The funds will be used to improve lighting, security measures and repair of some of the docks that have fallen into disrepair, along with some improvements to take advantage of the upcoming upgrades to the adjacent Central New England rail line.

“It’s important news for southeastern Connecticut and the whole state,” Bates said. “This is a real investment to improve the core infrastructure of the State Pier.”

The port is one of three deep water ports in the state and consists of the Adm. Harold E. Shear State Pier, more commonly known as State Pier, and the Central Vermont Railroad Pier, or C.V. Pier. State Pier is expected to generate $568,000 in revenue through its lease to Logistec USA Inc., which manages the entire site.

Another component of the Port Authority’s plans is to provide a fishermen’s terminal, or a nonsecure separate entrance that allows for 24-hour access for fishermen now working at the C.V. Pier.

“They can’t do that now,” Port Authority Director Evan Matthews said. “They come and go subject to the facility’s security plan.”

Everything on the Port Authority’s property is behind a fence and accessed through a single security checkpoint.

Matthews said the idea is to move the fleet further toward the cove into an improved docking area that, as an added benefit, will have room to accommodate a fishing fleet now operating at a pier in the Fort Trumbull area. The city’s development arm, the Renaissance City Development Association, currently is in talks with a hotel developer considering a $15 million project on a waterfront parcel that includes land where the fishing fleet is now located.

“We realize, as good neighbors, if all the plans the RCDA has come to fruition, we want to keep those fishing vessels in New London,” Matthews said. “The most logical place for them to go is (the Central Vermont Pier).”

Matthews said the first step will be to engage an engineering firm to start design for the individual projects, many of which already were planned when the port still was under the management of the state Department of Transportation. The DOT had spent several million dollars in 2014 to repair a portion of C.V. Pier that had collapsed. The C.V. Pier is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Maritime commerce in the state provides nearly $7 billion in economic output and contributes to more than 40,000 jobs according to Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s comments in New London last year. The Port Authority took over ownership of the port last summer.

“A lot of these things are essentially capital projects that needed to be done even before we owned it. We’re basically trying to catch up and have the facility be in a good state of repair,” Matthews said.

New London Mayor Michael Passero said the state investment is a good sign of things to come and he expects an increase in local economic activity related to the port.

He said the city already is in a position to acquire the land now home to the Crystal Avenue high-rises when those residents are eventually relocated. The land, he said, is one of the few sizable parcels in the area of State Pier that could allow the city to increase its “industrial footprint.”

Passero also said he hoped to work with the Port Authority and state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection to investigate the idea of moving the boast launch on State Pier Road to Riverside Park, at the end of Adelaide Street. Not only would the move provide an amenity to the park but it also would allow the Port Authority to expand its footprint.

g.smith@theday.com