Marco Polo Project

KATE BRAYDON/TELEGRAPH -JOURNAL Barry Ogden, centre, Bob Coes, left, project manager and volunteer Wayne MacEachern stand next to the Marco Polo replica being constructed in the city. A committee is looking for a permanent home for the ship.

Finding a permanent port for the Marco Polo
Location Stakeholders begin talks to find permanent location for replica

JON MACNEILL
TELEGRAPH-JOURNAL
AUG 27/10

    The Marco Polo replica will be an important landmark for the city and a hands-on learning tool for people of all ages, said an official with Uptown Saint John.
   "There's a lot of potential there as an attraction and as a learning tool for the community," said Peter Asimakos, gen eral manager of Uptown Saint John.
   To fully harness that potential, the replica of the world's fastest tall ship in its day must be displayed at a prime location in the city and Asimakos met with other community stakeholders Thursday to start a concerted effort to find the Marco Polo a permanent home.
   Construction is almost finished on the 65-foot tall and 90-foot long replica, which will make its way across Harbour Bridge on a flatbed transport trailer in the coming weeks.
   The ship will be used in the set of a musical taking place at Harbour Station on Oct. 23.
   After that, it's not certain where the vessel will be stored this winter or where it will come to rest permanently.
   That prompted Enterprise Saint John, Uptown Saint John and Saint John Waterfront Development to partner with the Marco Polo Project committee to find a location.
   "We are going to try to get a process going that would define where the most appropriate location would be for this and how it would operate in the long term," Asimakos said.
   He said the three stakeholders decided Thursday to issue a request for proposals that would call on companies to develop a business plan for the replica and determine an ideal location.
   The request for proposals will go out within the next couple of weeks, he said.
   "The first step is developing a business case for the project so there is some form of revenue to take care of ongoing maintenance costs," Asimakos said, adding he would like to see the ship wind up near the waterfront.
   Barry Ogden, president of the Marco Polo Project, also believes a waterfront location would make the greatest impact on visitors.
   "I'm very open to anywhere on the waterfront," Ogden said. "It has to be in a place where you can stand back and appreciate it; it can't be jammed in somewhere and it has to have some security."
   Ogden noted he's had several people and groups contact him about housing the ship, even some from outside the city, "but this is a Saint John project," he said.
   Ogden, who spearheaded the project 24 years ago, said there are a number of ways the Marco Polo could generate revenue. Some ideas are to take people on a history-laden tour of the ship or having a local theatre troupe hold performances on it throughout the summer.
   "The most successful (tall ship replicas) are the ones with the best stories," Ogden said. "I'm biased, but I happen to think we have one of the best stories in the world."
    Asimakos toured the Marco Polo for the first time on Wednesday inside the west side shed where it was built.
   "I was quite impressed," he said. "The craftsmanship that's gone into this, the detail work; the people that have been putting this together are very dedicated and skilled."
    He's confident the upcoming request for proposals will produce the best plan for displaying the beautiful ship and harnessing its potential.
   "We'll have some qualified people submit their ideas and move toward the next step," he said.

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