Marco Polo Project

PETER WALSH/TELEGRAPH-JOURNAL Barry Ogden wants to see the Marco Polo replica put near Long Wharf.

A ship searching for a home on the harbour
Re-creation Man behind Marco Polo project wants to see replica in prominent place

JEFF DUCHARME
TELEGRAPH-JOURNAL
JAN. 11/10

   SAINT JOHN - It was a 23-year gestation period and with the due date expected within weeks, Barry Ogden is trying to find a home for the new addition.
   "It is like a long pregnancy," Ogden said. "Man doesn't know anything about having a baby, but this has been a long wait."
    The Marco Polo, once known as the fastest ship in the world, was the first to circumnavigate the globe in less than six months - five months, 21 days. She grounded at Cavendish Beach, P.E.I., on July 25, 1883.
   Ogden, a school teacher, has spent what little free time he has building a onethird scale replica of the famed ship. Just like its original namesake that logged many a historic voyage on the open seas, the journey to build the replica of the storied ship has been long and arduous.
   "When you take on a project, you don't just measure it from the end, you measure it on the success along the way of the journey and we've had a very good journey on this."
    The ship still has no final place to tie up. Ogden has had discussions with the Saint John Port Authority, Saint John Waterfront Development and the city.
   "Those players have to come together and decide where it would go," Ogden said.
   DMK Marine has already offered to bring the ship across the harbour on a barge.
   "It has to be, in our minds, somewhere between Water Street and Long Wharf. It has to be in a high-profile area and a safe area. It has to have some presence because it's an icon and so you can stand back and look at it."
    The one-third scale replica of the storied ship will be 27 metres long and about 19 metres high. The original ship's mast would have been seen above City Hall when she rested in the harbour.
   "People will be able to go onboard it."
   But, he said, the massive space under the decks of the ship won't be finished right away.
   "It's very big inside and if someone had an idea, we'd be open to it. It's a huge space."
There have also been talks with the Saint John Theatre Company in a bid to put together a renactment of the Marc Polo's storied history.
   "The Marco Polo project isn't just about building a ship, it's about telling a story," he said.
   "The most successful tall ships have great stories and we believe we have one of the best stories in the world."
The replica, said Ogden, is older tha both of his sons.
   "They know now why there's no money for college," he said.

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