During the past five years, as the Boat School was on the verge of closing due in part to declining enrollment, Marlow had been eyeing the property and trying to get his foot in the door.
According to Eastport city manager, Jon Southern, it was not until he took over as city manager in April 2010, that Marlow began to be taken seriously. He “has very ambitions plans but he also has the credentials,” according to Southern.
Southern does not hide the fact that he would like to see the boat school go back into private or state ownership. Currently, Husson University operates the school, which it took over from the Washington County Community College in 2008. Since that transition, which included the transfer of property ownership to the city, Eastport has been paying the bills, a situation that Southern is not in favor of. “In my opinion no municipality anywhere in America should be in the business of running a boat school, we are not educators.”
The annual cost to the city for the property is approximately a quarter of a million dollars, which does not include contingency funds or maintenance costs. The fact that the city has been struggling to make payments at the expense of other pressing public works upgrades was noted throughout public discussions abut the sale of the property.
But a fondness for the Boat School, which is considered to be the oldest of its kind in the country, was the dominant sentiment voiced in public discussions.
In the late 1970’s The Boat School moved from Lubec to a newly renovated building in Eastport with funding from a million dollar grant from the Maine Department of Education. For the next two decades the program, run by the Washington County Vocational Technical Institute, gained a national reputation and trained scores of boat builders who are now working in the industry. As enrollment began to decline in the 1990s, local residents and other supporters statewide mobilized to insure the survival of the school. The non-profit Friends of the Boat School was formed and was able to help transfer the Boat School to Husson.
Boat school director, Bob Turcotte, a Boat School graduate himself, speaks proudly of the success of the new program and of Husson’s efforts to recruit excellent students.New programs, including a class in marine mechanics, have helped boost enrollment, which, in 2010, was up to 38. Turcotte says that, “once you leave here you can go anywhere in the world to work in the industry”. Last year’s graduating class of eight all found employment.
Marlow toured the school and admires what he saw. “Mr. Turcotte does a great job as long as he has them, but he does not have them long enough.” The school that Marlow envisions would last for four years and begin paying students during their third and fourth years as apprentices. He also plans to bring in more advanced technology because, according to Marlow, “there are not enough tools and the education is not complete.” Among the deficiencies he pointed to the lack of metal tooling skills.
Marlow assures that those presently employed by the Boat School will all be kept on board.
Concerns raised by residents include the requirement by Marlow that will limit public access to a boat ramp traditionally used by an adjoining boat yard and private individuals. However, within the proposal, is an agreement to finance a relocated public ramp.
An eight-page document has been made available to answer most questions and describe in detail some of Marlow’s plans. Between the descriptions of downtown flower boxes and a new rest room, and a rather thorough explanation of his educational philosophy, the important number that stands out is the $850,000 purchase price. Mike Cummings, new elected council member who will not take his seat until 2011, spoke from the front row, “what I like is that you are going to invest your money.”
The resolution has been passed on to Senator Kevin Ray and Representative David Burns to take up in the next legislative session.
Leslie Bowman is a freelance writer and photojournalist living in Trescott.