Seaport Museum Gets $4.5M To Restore 110-Year-Old Ship

FINANCIAL DISTRICT, NY — The South Street Seaport Museum is getting $4.5 million from the city to restore a 110-year-old ship to its former glory, the museum announced this week.

The maritime museum, located on the southern tip of Manhattan on the East River, will received $4.5 million cobbled together from a number of city sources to restore the "Ambrose," one of five historic ships that the museum keeps docked in the harbor. The Ambrose, built in 1907, was a floating lighthouse that helped direct ships from the Atlantic Ocean to the New York Bay. The ship was gifted to the museum by the U.S. Coast Guard in 1968.

"The lightship Ambrose is an iconic symbol of New York," Jonathan Boulware, the executive director of the Seaport Museum, said in a statement. "For millions of immigrants, Ambrose was the literal light of liberty. Passing Ambrose lightship meant that you'd arrived at America's shores. Ambrose's light was the beacon of liberty visible long before the Statue of Liberty."

The grant comes jointly from the mayor's office, the Manhattan borough president's office, and the City Council. The money will fund a new educational platform to educate visitors about the ship's role in navigation and immigrations and will also "dramatically change" the ship's visual appearance, according to the museum. (For more information on this and other neighborhood stories, subscribe to Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

The museum is still recovering a string of financial difficulties and Superstorm Sandy, which flooded many of the streets in downtown Manhattan and caused extensive damage to the museum.

Image credit: courtesy of the South Street Seaport Museum.