update

Is summer ever going to arrive? I’m ready to hang up the fleece jacket and complain about the heat. Fortunately, the cool temps haven’t kept folks away from riding the water taxi and enjoying the wonderful sites in the Park. Over 1600 people have hopped on board to visit sites, have lunch or dinner, go to an event, or just enjoy some time on the water. To give you some perspective, last season we had just over 2,200 riders. Here we are still in June and approaching that number. People are obviously finding out how enjoyable the Thames River Heritage Park experience is. Those of you reading this who have taken a ride, I hope you’re holding onto your water taxi ticket to take advantage of all the great Ride & Save offers your water taxi ticket gets you. If you haven’t, the discounts alone make it worth it to buy another ticket. With all the added value they also make a great gift! We had dinner at On the Waterfront last week and got $5 off each of our meals by showing our season passes. That’s half the cost of a ticket right there. So, take ride, enjoy our little pocket of the world and enjoy some great deals along the way.

As I write this there are only 80 days until Water Taxi season opens on Friday May 25th. Woohoo! It’s hard to believe this will be our third year. We’ve been busy not only getting the water taxis ready but also improving the Park experience. We started this process last November by hearing from our partner sites. Read more.

The biggest news of the new year is the approval of funding for a new water taxi landing at the Submarine Force Museum & USS Nautilus. This is HUGE!! Read more.

No less significant is the “Implementation Award” the Park received from the CT Chapter of the American Planning Association. A host of organizations and dozens of people made this Park a reality. It’s so nice to have the work recognized. Here’s the story.

Our Ride & Save Program is returning with even more offers for riders to take advantage of. Riders – be sure to hold on to your water taxi ticket to be eligible for exclusive discounts and promotions from area businesses. Businesses – get on board with an offer. It’s FREE.

If you rode the water taxi last season you know how easy and wonderful it is to get out on the Thames (and avoid the bridge). Why not enjoy it all season by becoming a member, which includes a season pass – unlimited rides all season? Membership is a great way to support the Park. Read more.

And be sure to take a peek at our new TV spot that will start airing on Atlantic Broadband in May.

In partnership with Sea Grant we will be participating in CT Trails Day on June 2nd by offering three Thames River Quests – one each at New London Waterfront Park, Fort Trumbull, and Fort Griswold. These are self-guided scavenger hunts where you’ll learn about the history of each location and find clues to solve a word puzzle that leads to a treasure box. The water taxi will be free for those participating in the event between the hours of 10 a.m. and noon.

As the summer nears we’re always looking for volunteers. If you like being outdoors, there’s a way for you to help us. Drop me a note.

Looking forward to seeing you in the Park soon.

Cheers,

The Park’s strategic plan calls for “developing collaborative thematic programming between Park partners.” Funded by a grant from the Panoram Foundation we engaged FIO Partners of Chester, CT, a consulting firm that specializes in working with non-profits, to help us through this process. We started by interviewing 20 stakeholders from the community. These included heritage and cultural sites such as the Avery-Copp House, the Hempsted Houses, Friends of Fort Trumbull, Fort Griswold, as well organizations like the Flock Theater, New London Main Street and others.

Our goal was to find out how the Park could help our partner organizations and build an experience that would resonate with a variety of audiences. We then held a one-day retreat. Sixteen stakeholders and representatives from our partner sites attended the January 31st Collaborative Planning Retreat at the Lyman Allyn Museum. There we developed ideas for collaboration and started the exciting work of creating and delivering on the TRHP experience.

We had a productive and enjoyable day brainstorming and planning. We heard many common goals for taking advantage of the rich content and expertise found in each of the heritage sites and pooling these to develop programming and events. Many terrific ideas surfaced and we will be convening again soon to continue the planning. Thanks to our facilitator Anne Yurasek who kept us on track throughout the day.

Thanks to everyone who attended and to the Lyman Allyn for the inspirational venue.

Through its bonding authority the CT Port Authority has approved the Park’s grant application for the design, construction and installation of a water taxi landing – a floating dock just like those at our other landing sites. Introducing this new stop on the water taxi route will be an exciting new venture. To quote a June 2017 editorial in The Day, “ . . .Most important to the park’s mission, adding the Nautilus and Submarine Force Museum to the water taxi stops is another step toward illustrating the totality of the immense breadth and span of the region’s history, a history in which the Thames always has played a vital role.”

More than a year in the making, this could not have been accomplished without the expertise and collaboration of the Town of Groton, City of Groton, the Navy and the leadership at the Subase and The Submarine Force Museum. Thanks to all who helped steer this to success. The Navy has agreed to oversee construction and, once completed, will assume ownership and maintenance. It could be ready as early as 2019.

The Museum receives almost 150,000 visitors a year. We are looking forward to introducing them to all that is happening in the Park.
(See The Day editorial)

The Thames River Heritage Park Foundation received the CT Chapter of the American Planning Association’s 2017 Implementation Award on January 12th, at a luncheon held in Middletown, CT, attended by about 100 people. The award reads, “In recognition of the tenacity, collaboration and political will of a diverse group of link-minded volunteers with one vision: One River. A Thousand Stories.”

A large contingency representing the Park was in attendance, some of who are shown in the photo below. An ongoing testament to the dedication of our volunteers.