Restoration Plans
The Paint Manufactory is Gloucester Harbor’s icon and most visible sculptural presence. It has witnessed the departure from this port of many generations of mariners, and it signals a safe return home and a welcome to all who enter the Port of Gloucester.
Restoration Overview: Ocean Alliance, like the City of Gloucester, has its origins in the bounty and fauna of the sea. Also like Gloucester, Ocean Alliance is now trying to reconnect with its history, leverage its legacy and embrace the future to be a more effective and sustainable entity, and prove itself a long-term asset to the City of Gloucester, metropolitan Boston, and New England.
Since early 2008, in the period leading up to the property acquisition, Ocean Alliance has forged excellent relationships with the City of Gloucester municipal government and the Mayors office, local, state and federal elected officials, regional press and, significantly, the residents of Gloucester.
The city of Gloucester is in the midst of a waterfront redevelopment and harbor revitalization initiative. While the City’s specific plans are still in development, Ocean Alliance’s restoration effort is widely regarded as a predictive catalyst for the harbor’s revitalization.
As a scientific research and ocean conservation organization, Ocean Alliance has for 38 years embraced the practice of collaborative action based on rigorous scientific research and understanding. We are seasoned at bringing together divergent interests to develop common, mutually beneficial goals and plans for the benefit of students, educators, the public and the ocean environment. We have already begun to utilize this organizational capacity in the restoration process, and in building the strategic goals of Ocean Alliance into the economic development goals of Gloucester.
Vacant for more than a quarter century, the Paint Manufactory is a Gloucester icon that, if successfully saved and restored, can be the tipping point for downtown and harbor revitalization in the area and provide a replicable model for future successful economic development on the Gloucester waterfront. At the Preserve America Summit (New Orleans 2006) then-First Lady Laura Bush said: “Historic preservation has the power to unite us, entire communities, through a desire to preserve our shared heritage. Communities like Gloucester, Massachusetts, who are working to preserve Cape Ann's iconic paint factory. Safeguarding Gloucester's maritime heritage has energized the town's residents, including nearly 1,300 volunteers who devote their time and energy to these preservation projects.”
Revitalization of the working waterfront is the highest priority for the City of Gloucester. The Tarr and Wonson Paint Factory, a priority development site so designated by the current Governor of Massachusetts, has the potential to be a lynchpin for the kind of redevelopment and investment that can grow the local marine economy. Having relied on the fishing industry for most of its history, Gloucester sees a synergy between the fisheries industry and the marine research and laboratory industries. In this new facility, Ocean Alliance will be well-positioned to bring together and showcase internationally our science, education and conservation initiatives in a compelling location, and under one roof.
Ocean Alliance, based on figures provided by the lead architect, has a goal of raising approximately $12 million to restore the ~ 20,000 Sq.ft buildings in a way that mediates existing contamination, maintains their historic exterior appearance while modeling the interior as a practical, accessible research, education and historic center.
Site Goals:
Bound to the successful completion of the restoration/construction project is the long-term positive impact that Ocean Alliance will have in Gloucester and the surrounding region.
Tangible, long-term effects of Ocean Alliance’s presence in Gloucester include, but are not limited to:
* Catalyst/Model for New Business: As noted, Gloucester is in the process of a harbor revitalization and municipal officials from Gloucester have stated explicitly that Ocean Alliance and the Paint Factory represent the first step in developing a replicable model of new business integration within the city (specifically among marine research and education facilities)
* Community Resource: A majority of the completed restoration (most of the first floor) is proposed to be open to the public during office hours; this includes both dedicated educational and study spaces and designated public spaces. Plans also include a community resource facility, an interactive learning lab, a shared art gallery—comprising works from local and regional artists and art instruction programs, Paint Manufactory historical museum space, and Gloucester historical space. Ocean Alliance has already begun discussions with several local non-profits and local and regional businesses about utilizing space within the Paint Manufactory. Several possibilities are pending the Paint Manufactory restoration.
* Public Accessibility: Ocean Alliance has begun preliminary discussion with local officials about two (2) specific projects to attract visitors and enhance their experience. First is discussion to be included in Gloucester’s water taxi ferry service that now, in its infancy, takes visitors and residents to various points on the harbor. Ocean Alliance has been given a preliminary nod to be included as a destination stop for the ferry service. This destination would be an opportunity for passengers to explore the Paint Manufactory and learn about various topics such as Gloucester history, Gloucester fisheries history, ocean health, whale education, Gloucester artists and Paint Manufactory’s historical value in Gloucester.
* Gateway Accessibility; The second parallel opportunity for accessibility will be for Ocean Alliance to act as a gateway to Rocky Neck businesses, specifically the Rocky Neck art colony. As the oldest art colony in the United States, Rocky Neck is a rich and diverse business area that may benefit substantially from additional tourism traffic. Situated on a peninsula and not on the “usual” tourism itineraries, Rocky Neck would become a partner with Ocean Alliance and the Paint Factory restoration in offering residents, visitors and tourists a unique experience on Rocky Neck. To date, preliminary discussions have taken place with the Mayor’s office regarding water taxi/ferry service partnership and with various Rocky Neck businesses regarding informal partnership opportunities.
* Educational Resource: Ocean Alliance has plans to host school groups from Gloucester and the surrounding region (Merrimack valley and beyond) on a weekly or bi-weekly basis, to participate in half day and full day educational programs where school children will learn about the marine environment, whales, ocean research, careers in marine sciences, and Gloucester’s remarkable history. This educational endeavor is in line with Ocean Alliance’s proven education programming which has been successful for many years around the world.
The Ocean Alliance presence and investment in Gloucester harbor is important to the fishing fleet that calls Gloucester home. This coordinated investment in historic preservation, recognition and retention of a significant cultural landscape, and the establishment of a new and compatible industry cluster provides assurance to the fleet that the inner harbor in Gloucester can remain a working port for the next 100 years.
The Need: Ocean Alliance stands at the tipping point for organizational growth and sustainability. To succeed in the restoration of the iconic Paint Manufactory buildings is to advance the programs, visibility and long-term viability of Ocean Alliance while cementing an impactful, progressive relationship with the City of Gloucester and the region.
Ocean Alliance needs to build upon its 38-year legacy, sustain current initiatives, develop and expand endowment capacity and promote new and widely applicable research and education programs. The Tarr & Wonson Paint Manufactory buildings provide an ideal, highly visible location from which to do this. We believe that the partnership between Ocean Alliance and the City of Gloucester—and the far-ranging support this project has generated—will be a replicable model for positive waterfront projects in the City and can be the catalyst that the City of Gloucester urgently seeks.
