Dear Island community,
A heartfelt thank you to so many of you who have offered your enthusiastic support for the Vineyard Lands for Our Community’s (VLC) ambitious proposal for HarborWorks. As a nonprofit organization, VLC seeks to redevelop the Vineyard Haven waterfront on Beach Road as a way to celebrate our marine heritage along one of New England’s few remaining traditional, working waterfronts. Just about every day, we hear from people who love this idea, who want to see our beautiful waterfront opened up to the public, and who want to honor the history of maritime industries on our Island.
When we announced on June 12, we shared that HarborWorks would take at least three years to navigate a challenging approval process before local, state, and federal authorities. We want to assure the community we have done our research, and we see a clear path to obtaining the required approvals for the expansive, 28,000-square-foot park with access to the beach and a 700-square-foot pavilion for public performances. In addition to providing more space for the Gannon & Benjamin Marine Railway and an apprenticeship for a new generation to learn the craft of wooden boatbuilding, we were thrilled to hear that the owners of the Shenandoah, the Martha’s Vineyard Ocean Academy, will be part of the proposal, as they are searching for a new home for the majestic topsail schooner.
As the excitement grows around this project, we want to hear directly from the community. So today we are announcing the first in a series of public discussions where board members and myself will be available to answer questions and hear your ideas for how we can bring the community together to make this dream a reality.
The first will be on Tuesday, July 16, at 5:30 pm at the Gannon & Benjamin Marine Railway at 30 Beach Road, just behind The Martha’s Vineyard Times.
As we have shared, we face a pending deadline to complete raising at least $4 million to acquire the DeSorcy property that lies at the center of the proposed project. The funding would also cover the cost of architectural and engineering plans, and a cleanup of the site. Already, VLC has secured commitments of approximately $1.7 million. Candidly, the heat is on now for the community to come together to help us to complete the raise.
Once we clear this first hurdle, we still have miles to go. We will need a further $20 million to support the build of the project. Ultimately, it will knit together five adjacent parcels of land and build out a pavilion in Boch Park, to allow Gannon & Benjamin to expand its operations and to relocate The MVTimes into the adjacent Boch Park, where we will establish a digital innovation hub to train the next generation in digital storytelling.
We believe deep in our heart that good things take time, and we are going to be sure we take whatever time is necessary to ensure that HarborWorks is done right, and done with the full support of the entire Island community. It is too big an opportunity to rush, or to allow it to falter.
If you want to join us in making this vision for HarborWorks a reality, please register on our website at vineyardlands.org, so we can follow up and invite you to join the movement to reimagine our working waterfront. We look forward to hearing from you!
Steve Bernier is the chair of Vineyard Lands for Our Community, and the owner of The Martha’s Vineyard Times.
At first blush this seems like a great idea. I love wooden boats and I love what Gannon and Benjamin build. But, other than G&B, I don’t see how any other waterfront business benefits. Surely the MV Times office doesn’t have to be in this area at all, and, given the congestion in this area, how would it possibly accommodate a performance venue? I was thinking of attending the first presentation this Tuesday, but at G&B’s? There is no parking anywhere, not to mention navigating Five Corners at 5PM. I’ll have to attend another one.
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