Boothbay Sea and Science Center opens the 2023 summer season at 12 Carter Road in East Boothbay. The BSSC staff arrives June 5, and June 19 is opening day. Volunteers, staff, and donors have made the new campus possible since the dinghies were put away last fall. Our successful fall campaign raised more than $395,000 to secure the loan to purchase the new home for BSSC. The new waterfront campus of 1.33 acres has a boat shed, three wharves, and two residences on Linekin Bay. Home to lobstering and boatbuilding for more than 200 years, BSSC will continue the working waterfront traditions with marine science education, sailing, boating, and environmental stewardship.
Safety is BSSC’s number one priority. To prepare the campus for June, we focused our efforts on repairing and stabilizing the boat shed, main dock, gangway, floats, shoreline, and residences for the summer staff. The buildings, dock and shoreline are our education tools. A site plan of how BSSC can use the property shows four zones of use: waterfront, boat shed/education, residences, and access.
Charlie Poole, Scott Dyer and crew from Custom Float Services are repairing and stabilizing the main dock and building 5 floats. Tim Forrester of Atlantic Environmental, LLC has visited the property and has secured the necessary approval for the floats and gangway from the Army Corp of Engineers. Kip Farrin of Farrin & Sons Dirt Works has repaired winter damage at the waterfront edge. The focal point of the educational zone is the boat shed and teaching spaces.
With planning from architect Rob Whitten and retired engineer Bill Haney combined with the herculean efforts of Steve Berger and Robert (RC) Chance (BSSC Principal Waterfront Instructor) and tools donated by Ron & Penny Ditzel by way of Betsy Grant the boat shed is now transformed into an open, light-filled space. At our April Work Day volunteers Paul & Sue Taylor, Peter & Mary Williams, Leanne Pander, Dana, Elise, & Lettie Wilson, Rob & Robin Whitten, Eric Graves, Nicole Poulton & Mario Roederer, Alison Sirois, Edward Roberts, Ross Branch, Nat Wilson, Russ Sirois, and Pauline Dion brought rakes and landscape tools to further ready the campus for the summer season. A zero-turn lawn mower, leaf blower, and weedwacker donated by Mary Closson in memory of her late husband Wayne will keep our grounds and gardens in tip-top shape. Pauline’s brother Philip Patry donated his time and the materials to building a new deck railing, shoreside and property line fences. The waterfront and boat shed as well as outside lawn and learning areas give youth ages 5 – 17 a secure place to board their boat, swim, fish, tie knots, do water sampling, chart a course, do weather forecasting, and so much more.
The residence zone of two houses, Carter House and Fuller House, provides staff housing and the generous donations of furnishings from Sue & Paul Taylor, Hoyt Walbridge & Stephanie Sewall, and Bob & Louise Bowditch have helped ready them for June arrivals. Boothbay Region Garden Club planted and delivered window boxes. Check the BSSC “wish list” on the website for additional household and equipment needs. Photographer Bob Crink continues to take amazing photos of BSSC activities and progress at 12 Carter Road. The access zone offers safe vehicle arrival, limited parking, and a drop off zone for the shuttle on the campus. BSSC will be running a shuttle from a location in Boothbay Harbor for students this summer.
