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Water World
Though landlubbers take it for granted, New Haven Harbor was once the lifeblood of the region. And it could be again
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Business New Haven
3/17/2003
By: Melissa Nicefaro
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Tens of thousands drive past it every day, but how much do most of them really know about New Haven Harbor? Most area residents have probably only seen it from I-95. Depending on the time of day, we're either whizzing by at 65 miles per hour, or sitting still in bumper-to-bumper traffic during rush hour staring at the man selling flags from the side of the road.
Few people know the area waters as well as Amistad Captain William Pinkney.
Radiating his obvious love for the water, Pinkney sees New Haven Harbor as a "good fairway with a lot of commercial traffic, which keeps it doing a lot of things that lesser ports would not have done." He means, "It's marked very well and is an easy port for big ships to get into. And for small boats there is a lot of room to move around."
New Haven Harbor is a well-sheltered harbor with three breakwaters protecting it from the prevailing winds (southwest, south and southeast).
"We're fairly protected," he says. "There's no place, unless you're 40 miles up the river in a mangrove swamp, that's going to be 100-percent protected, but this is very well protected."
Depth is not an issue for the Amistad, which draws just 10.5 feet, but the ship has to stay directly in the channel coming in and out of the harbor, coming up to its berth, which is tight as well.
"We can't go very far into places like Morris Cove because it's shallow," Pinkney explains. Most boats, even large schooners like the Quinnipiack, have centerboards, which can be dropped down and give the vessels great stability and ability to sail into the wind.
"When they go into harbor, they can pull the board up and go into fairly shallow water," Pinkney says.
"Amistad is a fixed-keel ship. It's not a problem for going in and out of New Haven Harbor, but there are harbors we can't get into. Our boat was really designed to go on off-shore ocean passages. We are very stable for that."
New Haven Harbor is authorized by the Army Corps of Engineers to be dredged to a depth of 35-feet below sea level.
"You can get a fairly decent vessel in and it's fine for a lot of the traffic they have now," according to George Wisker, coastal geologist for the state's Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).
Wisker notes there are larger ocean-going vessels, such as some of the mammoth container ships that bring cargo into New Jersey, that draw almost 50 feet of water. New York Harbor is in the process of deepening to 50 feet.
"Those huge vessels are not something we could ever bring in," Wisker notes.
At the moment, there is no dredging going on in New Haven Harbor because the dredging season is closed to accommodates the life-cycle of resident fisheries. "We have spawning winter flounder in New Haven Harbor. We have a big flounder habitat," Wisker says.
But there are dredging projects that started last fall and will conclude in the spring. The Army Corps of Engineers began the dredging of the Federal Navigation Channel, dredging about 700,000 cubic yards of mud out of the main channel in the drain basin.
"It's a big pile," says Wisker. "The material that's being removed is going out to the Central Long Island Disposal Site, about six miles south of Lighthouse Point. It's a big open water site."
"The sediments were tested and found suitable for disposal out there. There's a designated site out there that's about 70 feet. It's deep enough that the material that's placed out there stays out there and it's shallow enough that for other projects you can use that material to cap over other projects."
Most harbors are naturally fairly shallow. The areas outside of the channel of New Haven Harbor are ten or 12-feet deep.
"That was fine in the old days when ships were a lot smaller," explains Wisker. "As ships have gotten bigger, in order to get them into the harbor, you've have to artificially deepen it. You have to go in and dig it out."
Wisker deals with the suitability of the sediments for testing, working in coordination with the Army Corps of Engineers. The state and corps require applicants to take samples of the sediments and require that they test them for certain constituents.
"We look at the results and see how comfortable we are that these things are not going to cause problems in the Sound in terms of being toxic to the marine life or building up in the food chain," he says. "We evaluate these things and then I make a recommendation to our folks in the permit program and when they want to know if the sediments are okay, not okay, do we have to cap them, etc."
Wisker is also on the state board charged with making the decision of where a feeder barge's home port should be. "Whether it's Bridgeport or New Haven, it is a good idea for whichever one gets it," he says. The idea of getting traffic off of I-95 and using the ports is a very good idea. You have to start somewhere and at some point, both of those ports will wind up with some sort of system," Wisker adds.
"Whether it works or not will be market-driven to an extent, and will depend on how well people take it. With the traffic being what it is on I-95, if people can get their products moved quicker and better, they'll be happy. Our office certainly supports water transportation because you can move an awful lot of materials with a lot less diesel fuel."
The Transportation Strategy Board is expected to render a decision in next month.
"But" emphasizes Wisker, "it's a recommendation. Is the state going to be able to come up with the money? That would be very unfortunate if it didn't occur. It would be a big mistake."
Pinkney believes New Haven Harbor is one of the largest fuel oil docks around anywhere, based on the traffic he sees coming in and out of the waterway.
"There are facilities of a variety of types [here], ships that come in that are bulk and scrap carriers loading and offloading in the area," says Pinkney. "I'd imagine that the facilities could expand. The harbor does bring in some pretty deepwater ships. That presents an opportunity to bring some unusual kind of commerce in."
Pinkney says he is proud of the port his ship calls home at Long Wharf.
"We have an excellent dock at Long Wharf. The facility is fantastic. It allows us to have our boat secured and protected from anything other than winds coming out of the north/northwest, which is rare, we have facilities there to load and unload [wheelchair-bound] passengers," Pinkney boasts.
"I've sailed around the country and I've failed to see a dock that's facilitating that. That's unique to New Haven Harbor. The dock we have will lift passengers up and onto the boat. We're one of the only ADA [Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant] docks around. You have a lot more people who could use it, but for whatever reason don't. It's the opportunity to use it that makes this a unique harbor."
Yale Boathouse Loses Fight For Life
The former Yale Boathouse sits on New Haven Harbor between I-95 and Forbes Avenue. Built in 1909, the brick boathouse boasts a steep, gable roof and a rock-faced ashlar stone foundation. The building is two and a half stories tall and features an elaborate entrance and Gothic-style arch windows.
The boathouse, designed by Peabody and Stearns for Yale College, is listed in the Connecticut Register of Historic Places and is considered eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places.
To the disappointment of New Haven Mayor John DeStefano Jr., the boathouse will be demolished. It hasn't been used as a boathouse since the 1920s, but the building was and is loved by many. But it is not loved quite enough to spend $53 million to move it, brick by brick, to another location, though.
The state's planned construction of the new Pearl Harbor Memorial ("Q") Bridge calls for "full taking" of the Yale Boathouse property, according to the Department of Transportation (DOT). The DOT intends to salvage significant architectural elements from the building, to be delivered to the city of New Haven for adaptive use and/or public education purposes.
According to DeStefano, the state has funded a project that is located between the Rusty Scupper Restaurant and Long Wharf Pier.
"We've obtained permits from the Department of Environmental Protection and the Army Corps of Engineers to construct a three-acre deck on which will be constructed a 32,000-square-foot structure which will have architectural elements from the boat house that is to be demolished," says DeStefano. "It's a $30 million project that has been funded and permitted. We are in the process of selecting a designer."
Construction is slated to commence in 2005.
Yale's crew teams moved into their new digs at Derby's Gilder Boathouse in October 2000.
New Face on Long Wharf
No stranger to New Haven, restaurateur Anthony Antonakis plans to open a new restaurant at the former Howard Johnson's at Long Wharf this spring.
The Greek Olive will specialize in international food with a flavor of Greek, Italian and Latin cuisines. A banquet room will accommodate up to 125 people.
In its heyday, the Howard Johnson's restaurant was known as a hospitable, multi-faceted establishment for family dining and quick service, according to Antonakis. Its location just off I-95 also made it popular for quick business get-togethers. He hopes to rekindle that atmosphere, filling the niche that was once so well served at the location.
"I believe we're getting into the Long Wharf area at a great time. The highway is busy, [Swedish furniture retailer] Ikea is coming next door, it's a busy area now and it's going to be an even busier area," Antonakis says. His target customers are guests of the Fairfield Inn, highway commuters, local family diners, businesspeople and theater-goers.
Antonakis owns and operates Roberto's, an 11-year old State Street restaurant that serves breakfast and lunch.
The Greek Olive will be open 24 hours a day and is expected to open at the beginning of May.
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