ROCHESTER, N.Y. – It was a one season wonder: a deluxe catamaran that zipped across Lake Ontario at 55 miles an hour, connecting a Canadian metropolis with a midsized American city that has seen better days.

Will there be a revival?

For the past month, the $42 million ferry has been docked at the Port of Rochester. The private operator, laden with debts of $1.7 million, abruptly suspended twice-a-day roundtrip crossings to Toronto on September 8, and the Spirit of Ontario looks to be going nowhere fast.

The prospect of losing such a unique attraction – only three other high-speed car ferries operate in America – unloosed varying degrees of cynicism, sadness, bewilderment, and yearning in every corner of this faded industrial city of 220,000 people in western New York.

For a mix of emotions, look no further than Stan and Karen Dernoga, who drove to the pier on a weekday afternoon in search of “some solitude.” The vast parking lot, jammed with traffic all summer, was dotted with a few dozen cars – patrons of a fledging gift shop, hamburger joint, and ice-cream parlor inside the sparkling, $16 million port terminal.

Stan Dernoga, 66, a retired engineering manager, doesn’t think the ferry, which boasted a ridership of 140,000 in 80 days of sailing, can be resurrected.

“Most of this community was perked up, and now we’re all very disappointed,” he said. “If they couldn’t do it the first time out, what in the world is going to be the magic the second time out, especially with the winter coming?

“There’s such a thing as ironing the bugs out, but this was just one big bug.”

“I’m the dreamer of the family,” piped in his wife, once she was done chuckling. “In the beginning, I was very, very skeptical. Now I’m a believer. I’ve always believed that something good comes from something bad.”

After a Murphy’s Law-like debut, Canadian American Transportation Systems decided “it just couldn’t dig itself out of this hole” without first halting service, straightening its finances, and tackling a maze of cross border regulatory hurdles, said its president, Cornel Martin.

“Our goal is to get it up and running again as soon as possible,” Mr. Martin said. “We have always viewed this as a temporary suspension.”

The 284-foot-long, five-story-tall vessel, which can load 774 passengers and 220 cars, could be gliding across the lake again within weeks if its Australian backers give the go-ahead and new investors climb on board, Mr. Martin said.

Civic boosters still hope a year-round ferry service will open up a popular international gateway, prop up tourism on both sides, create 1,300-plus jobs and ease traffic tie-ups along the Golden Horseshoe, the densely populated region straddling Lake Ontario’s western shore.

The 171-mile road trip to Toronto usually takes three to four hours, and far longer when there are backups at the border near Niagara Falls. The ship got there in two hours, 15 minutes.

Built in Perth, Australia, it was supposed to be the first high-speed car ferry plying the Great Lakes, but its April 30 launch was scrubbed after it sideswiped a pier in New York City near the end of its round-the-world voyage to Rochester.

Doubts were momentarily set aside when the patched-up ship, nicknamed The Breeze, was cheered on its arrival here by 2,000 onlookers. Then came word of a $1 million engine overhaul, and another delay. In the meantime, the 40-mph Lake Express car ferry was launched June 1 on Lake Michigan, cutting in half a five-hour road trip between Milwaukee and Muskegon, Mich.

The Breeze’s maiden voyage finally came on June 18, but a series of mechanical breakdowns wore down the public’s patience and the early passages were often half-empty.

Finally, in July, the ship picked up steam. Helped by half-price, one-way fares of $16 on three weekdays, it carried 60,000 passengers in August alone.

The success came too late, though, and now much of Rochester is holding its breath. Compounding the misery, a federal judge impounded the vessel September 28 when a fuel supplier sued the owners for $370,000 in unpaid bills.

In Charlotte, a port-side city neighborhood crammed with hotels, bars and amusement parks during its heyday at the close of the 19th century, a swift retailer revival is now on hold.

“We’ve spent too much money – it’s got to come back,” pleaded Stacy Hildebrand, 38, a waitress at the Lead belly Landing, which had three afternoon customers instead of the usual packed house when the boat came in.

Just as waterfront revitalization lifted cities like Cleveland, Baltimore, and New Orleans, the ferry is seen by some as a potential economic catalyst, much like Eastman Kodak Co. was a generation ago. The photography firm now employs 20,000 people here, down from 60,400 in 1983.

“This is really the most exciting thing to happen in this region in probably several decades,” Mr. Martin said.

One major hindrance, he said, had been the failure to get approval from American Customs to carry commercial traffic, which could generate up to $18,000 in daily revenues. That issue has now been largely resolved – trucks will be allowed on board under certain restrictions.

But the biggest asset for Rochester, Mr. Martin said, would be developing a strong link with the dynamic Toronto area, which is home to nearly five million people. On both sides, “curiosity was just starting to develop,” he said.

Not everyone shares his optimism.

“In Toronto, they have the opera, they have Broadway, and a million other things,” Stan Dernoga said. “In Rochester, they roll the streets up on Sunday. I wish this was Chicago, then you’d have a shot, you’d have a balance there.

“Being a Mickey Mouse little town, the ferry generated a lot of interest, but then reality set in. Even if they bring it back, you don’t want to get your hopes up again.”