New London — The city announced Friday that it will partner with the state and the New London Maritime Society to “take the lead in preserving Long Island Sound’s rich maritime resources for Connecticut” as part of an effort to create a Long Island Sound Gateways National Maritime Park.
In a press release, Mayor Daryl Justin Finizio offered support for the project the maritime society will launch Sunday at its 30th anniversary celebration at Ocean Beach Park.
The park is proposed as a “partnership of parks, refuges, museums, historic sites and water trails that will help Connecticut residents and visitors access, enjoy and appreciate the natural, cultural, historical and recreational resources of Long Island Sound and its rivers,” according to the release. It would include both Connecticut and New York shoreline communities and would be modeled on the Chesapeake Bay Gateway Network, the release said.
“The New London Maritime Society is a valued community partner for the City of New London,” Finizio said in the statement. “I applaud their efforts to enhance historic tourism and historic preservation in our City. Their future plans for expanding the appreciation of our national maritime heritage are both exciting and inspiring.”
The nonprofit maritime society was established to preserve New London’s 1833 U.S. Custom House and operate the Custom House Maritime Museum on Bank Street. Sunday’s event will kick off the organization’s 2014 “celebration of Long Island Sound.” Guest speaker Tom Andersen, author of “This Fine Piece of Water – An Environmental History of Long Island Sound,” will talk about the 400th anniversary of Adriaen Block’s mapping of Long Island Sound.
The event begins at 2 p.m., with dinner and the program starting at 2:30. Tickets are $35; to make a reservation, call (860) 447-2501.
