The public will be engaged and educated during the process of restoring the SS Columbia. Planning for this phase of the
SSCP restoration was modeled on the Batavia Project in the Netherlands.

During the 1980s the visionary Willem Vos had the idea of
engaging the public by building a replica of the Batavia – a ship
of the Dutch East India Company, launched in 1628. Vos
conceived the construction of the ship not only as an end in itself,
but also as an opportunity to engage and educate the public regarding
the traditional techniques, skills, and materials used in building a
great wooden ship. Modern tools were also to be used to teach
young apprentices marketable skills. Vos stated, “one of our
purposes is to educate young people in carpentry; for them it is
important to learn to handle modern tools.”


The end results, however, were completely authentic. Vos explained,
“If I didn’t strive for absolute authenticity, nobody would know the
difference, but everyone would feel the difference…” Vos foresaw
that the public’s engagement with the physical presence of the ship
and the shipwrights practicing traditional crafts would be memorable
compared to a static exhibit. Visitors were encouraged to become
involved by asking questions of the skilled shipwrights.

Vos received the sponsorship of the newly created City of Lelystad,
which sought to create a heritage tourism attraction and educational
resource. The project was begun in 1985 and lasted for 10 years,
attracting more than 200,000 visitors a year. After the Batavia was
launched with great success in 1995, work was started on another
even larger replica ship, the Zeven Provincien.

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