Courtesy of the Tall Ship Providence Foundation
Maritime heritage will come alive in June 2019 when tall ship Providence drops anchor at Alexandria’s Waterfront Park, offering daily tours and cruises, along with a floating classroom and venue for private events.
Providence represents a significant part of American history, and provides a missing link for Alexandria’s waterfront development, said Scott Shaw of the Tall Ship Providence Foundation.
“We’re spending a lot of time as a city focusing on the waterfront redevelopment, but we haven’t spent a lot of time thinking about what’s actually on the water,” he said.
To start the process, Shaw said, he Googled “tall ship for sale.” Apparently, similar to appliances, there’s a hefty “dent and damage” discount. He found a deal on a replica tall ship, recently damaged after a winter storm in Maine. With a damaged hull and mast, the selling price dropped to $175,000. She will arrive fully restored for under $700,000.
Courtesy of the Tall Ship Providence Foundation
As part of Alexandria Restaurant Partners, Shaw explains that although he knew a bit about launching a large endeavor, buying a historic tall ship and bringing it to Alexandria posed some unique challenges as a cold start-up.
Before this Revolutionary War-era replica, built in 1976, is permanently based at the end of Alexandria’s King Street, the foundation — a non-profit created to acquire and operate Providence — is establishing both community and business connections in Alexandria. In addition to the goal of raising the $1.2 million for the initial project phase, the foundation has set out revenue streams to make the ship self-sustaining, along with securing local interest partners such as Mount Vernon, which will age some of their rye whiskey casks in her hold.
Along with attracting visitors, Providence will serve as a floating classroom for educational maritime heritage programs. “There are a lot of potential synergies that we‘re excited to explore,” said Kathy Seifert of the Alexandria Seaport Foundation.
There’s already been a successful connection between Providence and Alexandria Seaport Foundation’s Boat Building Apprenticeship Program, which sent a graduate to work on the ship’s storm-damaged hull restoration in Maine.
Courtesy of the Tall Ship Providence Foundation
“His work was so impressive that he is now working full time and living in Maine,” Seifert said. Providence will also offer extensions for Alexandria Seaport Foundation’s Middle School Math Program with project-based, cross-curricular learning. Youth in the apprentice program will get hands-on experience caring for the ship, along with the chance to serve as docents.
Educational opportunities on Providence will extend beyond the young. Retired Vice Admiral Tom Church, who supports the initiative, admits he had to brush up on history. “I guess like a lot of people, you lose perspective on history over time,” he said. “I had forgotten the significance of Providence.”
“Providence is a pretty historic ship--one of the first commands of John Paul Jones who is the father of the United States Navy,” Church said. As a symbol to the City of Alexandria, “It really accentuates the early days of Old Town Alexandria as a famous seaport and Providence as one of the first ships of the United States fleet. Bringing those two together I think is remarkable.”
This replica 110-foot, 12-gun sloop-of-war comes with historical stories of bravery and valor. Her predecessor not only took over 40 British ships, but holds the distinguished reputation as the first American ship to fire on a British warship. Shaw explained that she’s arguably America’s first ship, purchased from Rhode Island (named Warsloop Katy) and commissioned by the Navy of the Continental Congress in January 1775. Closer to her new homeport, Providence cleared the Chesapeake Bay of enemy British ships.
The rest, as they say, is history.
