Kingston Home Port and Education Center
Clearwater, HRMM and Community Set to Celebrate Official Barn Raising
KINGSTON, NY − Hudson River Sloop Clearwater and Hudson River Maritime Museum, state and local officials, community members, donors, and project stakeholders will gather on Saturday, September 15 to witness a day of barn raising and celebration for the much anticipated Kingston Home Port and Education Center. The public will be able to observe the carefully choreographed, pre-planned assembly, and “Amish-style” timber frame barn raising that will take place at the Hudson River Maritime Museum, located at 50 Rondout Landing in Kingston, NY.
As an educational center and an environmental hub for the region, the shared Kingston Home Port and Education Center will serve as the winter home for the sloop Clearwater and as a multi-purpose building for the Hudson River Maritime Museum. Clearwater and the Hudson River Maritime Museum are working closely together within this partnership to redefine the waterfront and continue to revive the historic Rondout district of downtown Kingston as a center for community and maritime interests.
“The NYS Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation is pleased to support projects such as the Kingston Home Port & Education Center as a partnership between the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater and the Hudson River Maritime Museum,” stated Commissioner Rose Harvey. “It is projects such as this that foster strong private-public partnerships to protect and enhance parks and open spaces, and to ensure that New York State’s rich environmental, cultural and heritage areas are ever more available to residents exemplifying the State as an amazing place to reside and recreate.”
Already a maritime heritage destination, the waterfront center will provide an important addition to Kingston’s lively downtown district – home to restaurants, art galleries, antique, and gift shops. The Hudson River Maritime Museum also attracts tourism to the region by hosting annual events such as Hudson River Day and the Antique and Classic Boats Show as well as visiting heritage and replica vessels. Kingston’s historic Rondout Creek, with its deep water port, is one of the best boating destinations on the Hudson River. The center will serve as a catalyst attracting both business interests and heritage tourism to the entire region, truly supporting the idea of the Hudson as the “River that flows both ways.”
“We are very excited to see the Kingston Home Port and Education Center finally become a reality, satisfying a 40-year dream to have a permanent, protected, dedicated port and repair shop for our beloved sloop Clearwater,” said Jeff Rumpf, Clearwater executive director. “The new Home Port will provide an enhanced community focal point and a place to learn about maritime history, attend workshops and events, enjoy music, and it will also be a model of environmental sustainability and waterfront revitalization for the region. The Long Island Sound has Mystic Seaport. It is time for our great Hudson River to have a Kingston Home Port. OPRHP understands the power this project holds to put the ECO into our Economy!”
Hudson River Maritime Museum executive director, Patrick McDonough, shares his enthusiasm and vision: “For over thirty years, the Hudson River Maritime Museum has been the cultural anchor for the Rondout renaissance at the Kingston waterfront. This historic partnership between Hudson River Sloop Clearwater and the Museum has created a lot of excitement. Local businesses are enthusiastic about the project and are looking forward to seeing the sloop Clearwater here in its winter port. They see this as another step in the creation of a vibrant destination for visitors; with shops, restaurants and cultural centers all sharing in the bounty of the redevelopment efforts. With such a strong collaboration among non-profits, local and state government, and the business community, I personally see this as the model for the regrowth and revitalization of all the river towns and cities on the mighty Hudson River.”
Schedule for the Day
Members of the Timber Framers Guild will begin work on the new Home Port and Education Center at 5:00 AM that morning, with construction in progress throughout the day.
From 2:00 – 3:00 PM, music will be provided by Clearwater’s Power of Song Apprentices and students from Haldane School of Cold Spring , NY; POOK: Percussion Orchestra of Kingston, from the Center for Creative Education; and Rich Hines and the Hillbilly Drifters.
At approximately 3:00 PM, the community is invited to assemble outside the safety fence for the official ceremony with special guest speakers Kevin Cahill, New York Assemblymember; Maurice Hinchey, Representative, NY 22nd District; Tom Alworth, Deputy Commissioner of the State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation; Shayne Gallo, Mayor of Kingston; and Ward Todd, President/CEO of the Ulster County Regional Chamber of Commerce. Jack Weeks, HRMM Project Co-Chair and Allan Shope, Clearwater Board President, will serve as co-emcees.
At the conclusion of the presentation, Clearwater and Hudson River Maritime Museum friends, supporters, and constituents will join in a symbolic procession to walk the final four structural elements, or “purlins”, into position as the new building officially becomes the Kingston Home Port and Education Center. During the positioning ceremony, the Ancient Order of Hibernians, Fr. Con Colbert Woulfe Division 1 Ulster County, will perform.
The sloop Clearwater will be docked at the waterfront and will offer free deck tours that day.
The Hudson River Maritime Museum will also be open Saturday, September 15 from 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Along with selections from the permanent collection, the 2012 seasonal exhibits will be “The Face of Work TODAY in the Hudson Valley”, sponsored by Ulster Savings Bank; “TUGS!” and “Fishing the Hudson”.
