Maritime Center groundbreaking Thursday to be celebrated 'Port Townsend style'
By Jeff Chew, Peninsula Daily News
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U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks won't miss it, said George Behan, spokesman.
The longtime Democratic congressman from Belfair has juggled other commitments to attend the ceremony for the $8.2 million center, a project that Dicks helped fund, Behan said.
The festivities will start at 3 p.m. at Pope Marine Park, Water and Madison streets, The event will be hosted by Jim Whittaker, the first American to climb Mount Everest. The master of ceremonies will be Port Townsend Mayor Michelle Sandoval.
State Reps. Lynn Kessler, D-Hoquiam, and Kevin Van De Wege, D-Sequim, and Steve Oliver, the president of the maritime center's board, will address those attending.
The celebration will include an appearance by the Shifty Sailors, a Whidbey Island-based seafaring singing group.
Singing all athe way
The Shifties, who have followings in Europe and North American, are expected to walk off the Steilacoom II ferry at 1:50 p.m. and walk down Water Street to the park, singing seafaring songs along the way.
Although ground preparation already is under way, the official ceremony is intended to give thanks to those who have supported the project for the past 10 years.
"This is a community celebration," said Stan Cummings, Northwest Maritime Center executive director.
"We don't know if 20, 200 or 2,000 people will be there.
"We just will be thanking so many people who have had a part to play in this project for so many years."
Since 1998, 1,513 individuals and organizational contributors have donated to the maritime center.
About 50 percent of the contributors are from the Port Townsend area.
State and federal grants also contributed.
The center has obtained bridge financing of $5 million to complete the two buildings, which are expected to be finished in September 2009 by Primo Construction of Carlsborg.
Large complex
The maritime center will be a 26,600 square-foot complex.
It will include the Maritime Heritage and Resource Building, 15,600 square feet, the Chandler Maritime Education Building, 11,000 square feet, as well as an outdoor public commons.
The Northwest Maritime Center is a nonprofit organization established in 1999 to improve public access to maritime trades — both traditional and contemporary — culture and recreation.
In 2005, it merged with the established Wooden Boat Foundation, based at Point Hudson.
The new buildings will enable the maritime center, now based in the Cupola House at Point Hudson, to expand its array of programs.
Maritime center representatives say that the complex will be a lively, seven-days-a-week center for maritime education and recreation — not a traditional museum.
"We intend to capture the spirit of the very popular Wooden Boat Festival and make it year-round," Cummings said.
The resource building will include a boathouse, chandlery, meeting rooms with a kitchen and visitor services.
The education building will have four classrooms and a shipwrights' shop.
The building will be topped off with a "pilothouse" three stories above ground level, equipped with radar and other marine equipment and commanding a view across north Puget Sound.
Local and regional maritime enthusiasts, marine trades, local organizations, visitors and thousands of visiting schoolchildren from around the region will benefit from the center, representatives say.
The site is on the Port Townsend waterfront, at the end of Water Street, adjacent to Point Hudson Marina.
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Jefferson County Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-385-2335 or jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.
Last modified: July 01. 2008 9:00PM