Oliver Hazard Perry Rhode Island

Tall Ships Rhode Island Changes Name to Oliver Hazard Perry Rhode Island

NEWPORT, R.I. (November 20, 2009) - Rhode Island’s Tall Ship Oliver Hazard Perry will be towed next week from Newport Harbor to Providence, where she will undergo major steel and mechanical work at Promet Marine Services.  Departure has been scheduled for Tuesday, November 24, with towing provided courtesy of Reagan Construction and its tugboat Hope. Launch service - for VIPs and media gathering for the occasion - will be donated by Oldport Marine.

“We are calling it a shave and a haircut, but it’s actually preparation for Phase II construction,” said Perry Lewis, vice chair of the non-profit Oliver Hazard Perry Rhode Island (OHPRI) organization (formerly Tall Ships Rhode Island), about the 132-foot steel hull’s visit to Promet. He explained that the shipyard specializes in high quality ship repair and accommodates ocean going vessels with deep-water docking facilities on nine acres of Providence River waterfront.  “The ship’s bottom will be power washed and zincs and anti-fouling paint applied; the now-iconic bulwarks will be cut off in preparation for the new deck; and survey work, an ongoing process for U.S. Coast Guard certification, will continue with every plate in the steel hull scheduled for inspection while the hull is out of the water.”

Since the Oliver Hazard Perry arrived in Newport at the end of October 2008, OHPRI has generated significant financial support toward the completion of the vessel, which will be a working education at sea ship, privately run but belonging to and representing the people of Rhode Island.

According to OHPRI Advisory Board Chair Tom Weschler, who estimates a cost of $5.7 million to complete the Oliver Hazard Perry, the organization underwent its own makeover to more clearly define its mission.  “Tall Ships Rhode Island changed its name to Oliver Hazard Perry Rhode Island and incorporated Education at Sea into its logo to make clear we are building a school ship and to better reflect our ongoing commitment to education,” he said.

The project’s extended focus has received enthusiastic response from Rhode Island’s public, independent and charter schools, as well as universities and trade schools. These institutions will utilize the Oliver Hazard Perry for experiential education and marine certification programs. This interest has prompted Oliver Hazard Perry Rhode Island to organize a statewide symposium in February 2010 to enable Rhode Island’s institutions to develop their programs and partnerships with Oliver Hazard Perry.

NewportFed Makes Donation

The newest corporate supporter of OHPRI is NewportFed, which - through its NewportFed Charitable Foundation - has pledged $10,000.00 over the next two years to support the school ship Oliver Hazard Perry and its Education at Sea programs.  Once it is sailing in 2011, the Oliver Hazard Perry will measure in at 207 feet in length and boast a majestic three-masted, square rig that stands 13 stories tall. It will be a working vessel, supporting itself from educational programs, with an office, staff and crew that has a budget of $1 million each year.

“It is our honor and privilege to provide financial assistance to this important slice of history and wonderful educational resource for young people,” said Kevin McCarthy, President and CEO of NewportFed, which is headquartered in Newport and has six bank locations in Rhode Island and Connecticut.

Two New Ways to Give

To complete the building of the Oliver Hazard Perry, the largest active education at sea Tall Ship in the U.S., the non-profit Oliver Hazard Perry Rhode Island (OHPRI) organization is soliciting a limited number of “Shipbuilding Syndicate Members” at four levels of participation between 2009 and 2011.  (Benefits for each level are described at www.OHPRI.org.)

The Shipbuilding Syndicate Member levels are (with vacancies remaining):  two $250,000 Members (2 remaining); eight $100,000 Members (6 remaining); ten $50,000 Members (5 remaining), and twelve $25,000 Members (10 remaining).

In addition, membership can be acquired at the Plank Owner level.  Naval tradition defines a Plank Owner as an individual who is a member of the crew when a ship is being built and commissioned.  In 2009 and 2010, OHPRI seeks 180 Plank Owners at four distinct levels of participation.  (Benefits for each level are described at www.OHPRI.org.)

The Plank Owners levels are (with vacancies remaining): twenty $10,000 Plank Owners (17 remaining); twenty $5,000 Plank Owners (15 remaining); forty $2,500 Plank Owners (37 remaining); one hundred $1,000 Plank Owners (82 remaining).

“We are making strong progress toward constructing the three masted education at sea Tall Ship Oliver Hazard Perry and further developing the Newport-based program that owns and operates it,” said OHPRI Chair Bart Dunbar.  “The Shipbuilding Syndicate Member and Plank Owner giving programs allow us the privilege of permanently recognizing our most important supporters. Full subscription to these two programs will secure the $2.6 million (combined with a pending $1.5 million Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation guaranteed loan) of philanthropic and in-kind support needed to complete construction and commission the most advanced education at sea Tall Ship in the U.S. for the benefit of our next generation of young people, mariners and marine tradesmen and women.”

To contribute to the Oliver Hazard Perry project, visit www.OHPRI.org or contact Perry Lewis at OHPRI headquarters, 401-841-0080, or David Guertin at Vantage in Philanthropy, david@vantageinphilanthropy.com, 401-619-3990.

Visit www.OHPRI.org to learn more about this project.

Tall Ships Rhode Island Changes Name to Oliver Hazard Perry Rhode Island

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