Menemsha Coast Guard Boathouse Won’t Be Built for 2 Years
The destroyed boathouse, as photographed this past July.
The Vineyard Gazette reports that construction of a new Station Menemsha boathouse is not likely to begin until the summer of 2012. In a divided vote, selectmen also agreed to provide space on the harbor bulkhead for the Coast Guard’s heavy-weather 47-foot motor lifeboat, displaced by the July 12 fire.
Aerial view of the boathouse fire. Photo courtesy of the U.S. Coast Guard
Fire location.
In a briefing to Chilmark selectmen, Commander Will Smith of Civil Engineering Unit Providence explained the delay. He said funds for reconstruction of the historic building must come from a special pool of money allocated by Congress.
“The fiscal year 2011 budget is already finalized,” Mr. Smith said. “That train has left the station. Assuming all the stars align and everything works well and we get funding allocated by Congress, the earliest you would likely see construction begin on a new boathouse is July or August of 2012. Construction would take 18 months.”
Read the full article:
Related articles:
- BoatingLocal: July 12, 2010 Article
- BoatingLocal: July 26, 2010 Article
Boating Local Video:
Menemsha Fire Aftermath, July 26, 2010
BoatingLocal surveyed the results of the July 12 fire that destroyed the Coast Guard boathouse in Martha’s Vineyard’s Menemsha Harbor.
About the Author
Tom Richardson is the co-director and host of BoatingLocal. Before that he served as the editor of Northeast Boating from 2005 to 2009, and as managing editor of Salt Water Sportsman magazine from 1995 to 2004. He lives, boats and fishes in southeastern Massachusetts with his wife and three kids.
