Sailing Finally Has a Home
a home that trumpets its achievements
and inspires generations to excel on the
water, and to serve the sport.
The desire for such a home was the
easy part; finding the best place to hang
a shingle, however, was a challenge.
There are many cities and towns
worthy of the National Sailing Hall of
Fame, but Annapolis, Md., emerged for
many reasons.
* Preserving America’s Sailing Legacy
After six years of working on the
* Engaging Sailing’s Next Generation
concept, the National Sailing Hall of
Fame board, of which I am a member,
received the gift it needed from then
Other sports have their hallowed halls; Cooperstown,
Maryland Governor Robert Ehrlich,
New York, for baseball and Canton, Ohio, for football.
who offered a prime waterfront
location in Historic Annapolis. The
Now, Annapolis, Maryland, with it’s storied maritime past,
nearly 5,000-square-foot parcel is
will host The National Sailing Hall of Fame. A place to
sandwiched between the sprawling
U.S. Naval Academy and Annapolis’
celebrate achievements under sail and to inspire generations
centrally located and heavily trafficked
to come.
(by tourists and locals) City Dock. It’s
about as publicly accessible and visible,
By Gary Jobson
as a Sailing Hall of Fame can get. Surely
it will draw in committed and casual
sailors alike through its doors.
In 1998 I emceed a skipper’s forum celebrate the accomplishments of these Preservationists put forth legitimate
on the Annapolis (Md.) City Dock, great sailors and many others. concerns regarding development of the
hosting the skippers of the Whitbread I had no idea then that in 10 land, in particular the historic home that
Round the World Race. Paul Cayard, years time the very place where the stood on the site and once belonged to
skipper of the victorious EF Language forum was taking place would soon Captain William Burtis, a deep-rooted
syndicate, was on the panel, explaining be sailing’s permanent home. It’s long Chesapeake waterman. The NSHOF
to more than 1,000 people in the overdue. spent nearly two years attending
audience what it was like to sail in Many of our sport’s greatest hearings, addressing concerns, and
the Southern Ocean. Dennis Conner, moments are chronicled on film, on explaining to residents the Hall of
Fame’s mission, and its potential to
create revenue for the city.
Once the NSHOF resolved the
land development issue and obtained
the necessary approvals, 26 architects
from around the country bid on the
$20-million project. Joseph Boggs,
whose firm was responsible for
the American History Museum in
Washington, D.C., earned the bid and
in January presented his vision, shown
in the image below.
The Burtis House property covers
about 5,000-square feet, comprising
only a portion of the space required to
do the project right. In January of this
The National Sailing Hall of Fame will reside in the heart of Annapolis’ (Md.) waterfront.
year, the remaining pieces came into
At right is the U.S. Naval Academy.
place: the NSHOF acquired an adjacent
piece of property from the Phillips
whose Volvo 60, Toshiba, sat nearby, was plaques and trophies, and in logs, Seafood Company for $2,850,000, and
another panelist, and as he compared yearbooks, magazines, and websites. the City of Annapolis granted the Hall
the Whitbread to the America’s Cup, But sailing has never had its own unified a portion of the street on which the
the crowd hung on his every word. It “place,” a physical space bearing the building would reside. In 2008, the city
was at this moment I realized the sport history that reminds us what sailing, in completed its $9 million reconstruction
of sailing needed a Hall of Fame to its many forms, is about. Sailing needs of City Dock, which includes 572
48° No r t h , Se p t e m b e r 2009 pa g e 58
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114