Marco Polo Project

CINDY WILSON/TELEGRAPH-JOURNAL Barry Ogden proudly displays the near-finished painted hull of the Marco Polo replica that will be moved from a west side port to the Harbour Station parking lot in a couple of weeks, then inside for the play, 'Marco Polo: The Musical'.

Finishing touches being put on Marco Polo
History Replica will make its way to Harbour Station on Oct. 18

APRIL CUNNINGHAM
TELEGRAPH-JOURNAL
Oct 04/10

SAINT JOHN - Barry Ogden is ironing out the kinks for the Marco Polo replica to coast across the Harbour Bridge and into Harbour Station later this month.
   The giant ship is now painted with the same colours - green, white and black - the Marco Polo would have sported in 1851, when the wooden clipper launched from Marsh Creek, on its way to becoming the fastest ship in its day.
   "Everyone I talk to, everybody's keen on seeing the Marco Polo and being a part of it, and that's very rewarding;' said Ogden, who spearheaded the replica project 25 years ago.
   The ship, measuring 90 feet long and 65 feet high, will make its community debut Oct. 23 in Marco Polo: The Musical, a show involving 200 performers at Harbour Station, with the ship as its focal point.
   The ship is now in a storage shed in the west port, and is scheduled to move across the bridge Oct. 18. Lenron Inc., a company that specializes in large loads such as windmills, will transport the ship to Harbour Station free of charge, Ogden said.
   It will then be moved into the arena a couple of days later, giving the Saint John Theatre Company time to prepare the elaborate set.
   "The logistics of moving it are in place, but we're still working on how to move it into Harbour Station," he said.
   The Marco Polo was a three-masted ship named after the Venetian explorer. The original ship was 184 feet long, 36 feet high and displaced 1,625 tons.
   When the ship was launched in Marsh Creek, the keel struck the mudflat and the vessel fell on its side, injuring several workers. It took a couple of weeks for the ship to float free.
   First a cargo ship, it was converted for passenger service, sailing from Liverpool, England, to Melbourne, Australia. It soon earned the reputation as the fastest ship ever built and eventually grounded in Cavendish, P.E.I.
   Ogden, a Saint John High School teacher, first became interested in the Marco Polo project when he was growing up at his parents' motel in Saint John.
   "My dad always talked about how we need a big tourist attraction in Saint John," he said.
   Ogden suspects this replica ship could be it. He is still working with area groups to determine a final location for the ship, hopefully somewhere between the cruise ship terminal and Long Wharf.
   "It's going to be the most photographed site and probably the greatest icon we have," he said. "It develops a great sense of pride."

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