Mar 16 2008
Developing the Project in Two Phases – Restoration and Operation
The SS Columbia Project is conceived of in two phases:
Phase I: Restoration of the SS Columbia – incorporating public programming by creating an opportunity to educate the public and create a significant heritage tourism attraction.
Phase II: Operations in the Hudson River Valley and the waters of New York Harbor – creating unique enriched access to the beautiful waters and landscapes of our region.
Phase I: Restoration of the Columbia
The project will restore the vessel as a unique, beautiful, and living artifact. While most maritime preservation projects present the vessel as a static object, visitors to the Columbia will enjoy her as she was meant to be experienced, as a functioning vessel. No film, photo, or Web site can match the experience of climbing the mahogany-paneled staircase into the grand salon; seeing the river glide by through beveled glass windows; or watching the engineers polish the brass and monitor the steam gauges.
The restoration of the Columbia will be among the most ambitious maritime preservation projects yet undertaken in the United States. In addition to the traditional parameters of a restoration, the SS Columbia Project’s goals will include the discreet enhancement of the vessels mechanical infrastructure using “green technologies“; incorporating apprenticeship programs into the restoration to ensure the passing on of traditional skills and crafts to a new generation; and the engagement of contemporary artists into the project.
The restoration will involve all aspects of the vessel’s structure including repairs to the superstructure and the hull; updating and enhancing mechanical systems; restoring and recreating elements of the steamboat palace décor; and discreetly inserting necessary infrastructural enhancements such as an elevator, modern safety and communications systems.
A team of highly skilled restoration workers and apprentices led by a specialized shipwright with preservation expertise will, in a carefully structured and phased program, systematically stabilize, consolidate, repair, and renew more than 27,000 square feet of historic fabric. Historic decorative elements such as paneling, murals, art glass, ironwork, and light fixtures will be carefully removed for restoration. Missing decorative elements will be re-created. The interiors of the Columbia and of the great Hudson River day-liners incorporated the work of many artists. Building upon that tradition contemporary artists will be involved in the restoration process both in terms of incorporating their work into the physical restoration of the vessel and being invited to make work that responds to the vessel and her restoration.
Phase II: Operation in the Hudson River Valley and New York Harbor
The restored Columbia will serve three principal functions in our waters:
- The vessel will operate excursions between New York City and the communities of the valley, thus restoring a historic transportation linkage knitting the communities of the valley together and providing a stimulus to responsible economic development.
- The vessel will provide unique programming to students in the tri-state area relating to the history of the Hudson River, its communities, and the Industrial Revolution and its impacts on our environment and culture.
- The vessel will serve as a mobile cultural events venue that will be shared by the communities of New York Harbor and the Hudson River Valley with programs in dance, theatre, literary readings, and performance. The grand salon of the Columbia will come to serve as a communal “living room” for the Hudson River Valley and the waterfront communities of New York Harbor.
