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Read the latest Mystic Seaport news.
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A Masterpiece of Craftsmanship
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Museum Treasures
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A New Exhibit Hall
Mystic — Mystic Seaport has applied for permission to construct a state-of-the-art exhibition hall on the north end of the Museum grounds. The new building will greatly expand the institution’s capability to host large exhibits and will be the cornerstone for an improved year-round experience for the visitor.
The project includes a 14,000 square-foot building and one-third of an acre of new green space. The deliberately modern design of the building is intended to reflect the craft of wooden ship building, and the large, laminated beams aim to evoke the structure of a wooden ship with its parallel frames. Energy-efficient components and geothermal heating and cooling will be used.
“We are very excited about this project as it will enable us to present dynamic new exhibits that we currently cannot support,” said Mystic Seaport President Steve White. “The new exhibit hall and site plan will dramatically strengthen the Museum as a tourism destination and most importantly bolster our mission to create an enduring connection to America’s maritime heritage.”
The 5,000 square-foot exhibit hall will provide much-needed room for the Museum to display items from its vast collection and will also allow space for traveling exhibitions. Additionally, the new building will house an alternative entrance for visitors, a lobby, a retail shop, restrooms, and meeting and staff spaces.
The plan also calls for outdoor improvements to Anchor Circle to create a better-defined celebration space for Mystic Seaport and community events, and to create better access to the existing galleries. It will also open up views of the Mystic River from Route 27.
The new building will be located just south of Latitude 41° Restaurant and will require the removal of 30,000 square feet of existing building space, including the Museum’s G.W. Blunt White Building, the North Boat Shed, and the former boiler house that houses the Benjamin F. Packard ship’s cabin exhibit. The Packard exhibit will be disassembled for continued preservation and new display locations are being evaluated.
The project is being designed by Centerbrook Architects and Planners of Centerbrook, Conn., who recently renovated the Ocean House in Watch Hill, R.I., and Kent + Frost Landscape Architecture of Mystic, Conn. Construction will be managed by A/Z Corporation of North Stonington, Conn.
A public hearing on the site plan application is tentatively scheduled for October 21. The project is slated to begin in January 2015 and to be completed in mid-2016.
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There’s No Place Like Home
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Chiseling a Work of Art
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The L.A. DUNTON
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38th Voyage Complete
The Charles W. Morgan was welcomed home to Mystic Seaport on August 6 following the completion of this summer’s historic 38th Voyage. The 19th-century whaleship was towed from City Pier in New London to the Museum, where she is now tied up at her traditional berth at Chubb’s Wharf.
Built in New Bedford, Mass. in 1841, the Morgan sailed 37 voyages around the globe during an 80-year whaling career. This past May, following a five-year, multi-million dollar restoration, the ship set out on her last voyage— perhaps her most important— to raise awareness of America’s maritime heritage and to call attention to issues of ocean sustainability and conservation. It was the first time the National Historic Landmark had left Mystic Seaport since her arrival in 1941.
With Captain Richard “Kip” Files at the helm, the Morgan departed Mystic Seaport May 17 and visited New London, Conn., Newport, R.I., Vineyard Haven, Mass., New Bedford, Mass., the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, Boston, and the Massachusetts Maritime Academy as part of the centennial celebration of the opening of the Cape Cod Canal.
“The nearly three-month journey was a commemoration of the role of the sea in the history of America and an appreciation of our changing relationship with the natural world,” said Steve White, president of Mystic Seaport. “Taking this American icon, the oldest surviving commercial ship in the country, out on her 38th Voyage was a landmark achievement for Mystic Seaport. We truly accomplished our mission to celebrate our nation’s shared maritime heritage.”
More than 64,000 visitors climbed aboard the Morgan and visited dockside exhibitions during the 38th Voyage. Highlights of the journey included the ship’s homecoming to New Bedford, docking next to the USS Constitution in Boston, and teaming up with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) at Stellwagen Bank to observe whales in their natural environment.
“For Mystic Seaport the 38th Voyage represents a dynamic new model for engaging with the public. We have added to the whaleship’s historical record and now have a powerful body of knowledge, sensory experiences, images, sounds, and visceral and artistic human responses that all contribute to our understanding of 19th-century whaling and the human-whale dynamic,” said Susan Funk, executive vice president of Mystic Seaport. “The voyage has reinforced our vision of the role of museums in the 21st century, and how museums like Mystic Seaport can play a vital, continued role in education — how the objects we preserve, like the Charles W. Morgan, are no longer simply static exhibits but rather dynamic, ever-changing platforms for public engagement.”
Throughout the voyage, some 80 individuals from a wide range of disciplines and backgrounds sailed aboard the ship and participated in an unprecedented public-history project as 38th Voyagers. This group, which included artists, historians, scientists, journalists, teachers, musicians, scholars and whaling descendants, documented and filtered their experience aboard the Morgan and will produce a creative product for Mystic Seaport to share with the public.
“The Charles W. Morgan is an exceptional and truly unique artifact of our shared maritime heritage,” said White. “While the ship is an American icon and a living portal into an important chapter of American history, she now embarks on a new journey with transformed purpose. She’s no longer an instrument of commerce but a source of education, knowledge, and understanding. The 38th Voyage was truly seeing history come alive.”
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Coming Home
Mystic — Mystic Seaport will welcome the 1841 whaleship Charles W. Morgan back from her historic 38th Voyage on Wednesday, August 6. The ship, which is scheduled to depart City Pier in New London at 2 p.m, will be towed to the Museum and is estimated to arrive at 5:30 p.m.
Current plans have the Morgan entering the mouth of the Mystic River about 3:45 p.m., although weather and sea conditions could affect the arrival time and people interested in viewing the journey should factor in the possibility that the vessel could be ahead of schedule. Updates on the ship’s progress will be posted on the Mystic Seaport website.
A homecoming ceremony will begin immediately upon the ship’s arrival. The public is invited to gather at Chubb’s Wharf to welcome the ship back to the Museum. Elements from the 38th Voyage dockside exhibit will be set up on the wharf, including Spouter, a life-size, inflatable sperm whale model. Schaefer’s Spouter Tavern will also remain open for food and beverage service, although Museum exhibits will close at 5 p.m.
There will be a reduced admission of $5 beginning at 5 p.m. Children ages 5 and younger and Mystic Seaport members will be admitted for free.
Should weather prevent the ship from arriving on August 6, it will transit from New London on Thursday, August 7 or Friday, August 8. Specific timing is to be determined.
The Morgan will reopen to visitors on Saturday, August 9.
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