PORTLAND – Plans for a multimillion-dollar cruise ship terminal on the waterfront may take longer than expected.

Portland officials say many elements of the project still need to be figured out, and it likely will not be completed by 2002 as expected.

Instead, the new deep-water facility for Portland’s growing cruise ship business, the Scotia Prince, ferries and other large vessels will open a year later. It is expected to cost between $15 million and $17 million to complete. In the meantime, officials are seeking public comment about the project.

“A lot of people are very concerned that we’re going to squander some very valuable real estate, creating parking so people can hop on a ferry and go to Nova Scotia,” said John Carroll, a Peaks Island resident.

At issue is a 19.5-acre site on the east end of Portland’s working waterfront, which includes the city-owned Bath Iron Works property as well as the Maine State Pier and a parking lot off India Street.

The city’s plan is to create a marine complex that can accommodate not only cruise ships, but also the Scotia Prince and an expanded Casco Bay ferry terminal.

At a forum Monday, more than 100 residents met with city planners to discuss the project. They said they want whatever is built to be tasteful and in keeping with the working waterfront, and cited T-shirt shops, traffic, bars, high-rise buildings and sprawling parking lots as undesirable.

Officials also told residents that the Scotia Prince, which operates out of the International Marine Terminal at the other end of the waterfront, will not fit at the Maine State Pier as originally planned. They suggested reserving that pier for an improved and expanded Casco Bay ferry service and a public plaza, and docking the Scotia Prince at a restored pier at the BIW site.