The Maritime Gallery is currently closed as we have started construction on enclosing it. This is very exciting for the museum but we realize some visitors may be disappointed. Watch this space for updates on openings and closings of the gallery as construction continues.
Shenandoah’s newly restored flybridge. Rebuilt in 1949, the deckhouse flybridge was covered in glue-soaked burlap and painted for an authentic 1940s’ non-skid surface.
Capital Campaign to Complete the Shenandoah, Enclose the Maritime Gallery and Create Engaging New Exhibits
Thanks to our many generous donors (nearly 400 to date!), we get closer to our $3.0 million goal every day. We’ve raised just over $2.7 million with significant contributions from the following:
Washington State Heritage Capital Project Fund
James & Carolyn Milgard
NPS/IMLS Save America’s Treasures Grant Program
Troy & Connie Alstead
Max and Janet Laudeman
Peninsula Light Company
Dr. Jon Kvinsland
DV and Ida McEachern Foundation
Pierce County Historic Preservation Commission
Mr. Rick Ellingson
The Port of Tacoma
Jay & Peachy Smalling
The RPM Foundation
Dan and Pat Nelson
Completion of the Shenandoah
Using a combined, half-restoration to 1970s, half-conservation and reconstruction to the original 1925 design, the 65-foot wooden purse seiner Shenandoah is a storyteller of great renown. From “tree to sea,” her stories echo through the generations. The exhibit plan for the Shenandoah will increase her teaching ability and accessibility ten-fold. This approach will not only demonstrate restoration and conservation techniques, it will allow visitors to peer inside the hull of the boat as well as step aboard at deck level. The Museum has made a significant investment in the restoration of the Shenandoah–with more state grant and matching funds secured for the years ahead. Enclosing the space not only protects the Shenandoah, it provides the community with a beautiful gallery that can be used year round.
WATCH THE SHENANDOAH PROJECT CREW FRAME THE BOAT:
Creation of Engaging Exhibits & Programs in a Multi-Use Space
“…I also liked that in the gallery there were things you could interact with. I thought it was fun to go on the Shenandoah and learn about the tools they used to make the boat.”
- Ruth, a P.S.E. Student Visitor
The Museum has adopted an innovative exhibit strategy that will set the stage for multi-sensory engagement and broad spectrum access. Featuring life, history, and boats in perspectives “below, at, and above the waterline,” professionally designed exhibits will connect Gig Harbor to the world. The Museum will be able to increase the learning opportunities within the Gallery and better serve the public through enhanced exhibits, collections, and program & event space. For example, “Below the waterline” exhibits will offer a peek inside the hull to see how the Shenandoah was built, how the engine worked, and where the crew lived. “At the waterline” will allow visitors the opportunity to discover life aboard a salmon seiner, from work deck to galley to pilot house.
Preserving our history and culture while educating our community and the many visitors about it is our core purpose. This project will allow us to expand our exhibit areas by nearly 3,000 square feet, resulting in expanded service to schools, out-of-town visitors, and our local residents. Installation of new, multi-level decking on the interior and an exterior balcony, will increase useable space for programs and events by nearly 750 square feet.
With a specially designed Preservation Workshop included in the gallery design, treatment work can continue on key elements of our preservation projects–in full, yet secured view, for visitors to see and learn from.
Shenandoah: The Back Story
Pasco Dorotich had the Shenandoah built by Skansie Shipyard for service as an Alaskan cannery tender. Little did Dorotich know that the boat would wind up having three lives: One as a cannery tender, one as a purse seiner, and its last as a museum artifact destined to teach about the lives and livelihoods of those who built and skippered her.
The Shenandoah is one of only two Skansie-built seiners left in Gig Harbor; one of a handful still in existence; and the only Skansie-built fish boat that is open to all.
WATCH THE SHENANDOAH MAKE HER WAY TO THE MUSEUM:
“We have lived, breathed, and eaten from Puget Sound waters. Completion of the Maritime Gallery–through its enclosure and creation of engaging exhibits and interpretive experiences–will provide intriguing lenses through which we can see our past, explore our present, and imagine our future, while at the same time fulfilling and improving upon the original vision for the space.” - Stephanie Lile
School kids gather at the Shenandoah’s galley table, just as many crews did over her 73 years of fishing.
Join the Crew and Help Make History Happen
Primary donor naming opportunities are available for named spaces in the Maritime Gallery. For more information on Project 224606 or to make a donation, please contact Stephanie Lile, Harbor History Museum Executive Director, at 253.858.6722 x7 or director@harborhistorymuseum.org.
Watch the restoration progress in action Thursday-Saturday at the Harbor History Museum.