Marion awarded $300k state grant for harbormaster and marine center

MARION — Rep. Bill Straus (D-Mattapoisett) has announced that the town of Marion will be awarded a Massachusetts Seaport Economic Council grant for $300,000 to assist in the design of a new harbormaster and marine center at Island Wharf located in Sippican Harbor.

Word of the project’s approval was received by the Representative from Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito who chairs the Seaport Council and has been the Baker Administration’s point person on this and other coastal projects in the state.

The town intends to compete for construction grant funds in a future funding cycle in 2022.

Preliminary designs for the facility were initially presented to the town in 2020. Revised plans, which will consolidate Marine Department office space in a new building that will be elevated out of the flood zone, were released last spring, at which time the town expressed its intent to seek partial state funding.

The design money grant will be taken up formally at the September meeting of the Seaport Council by the Lieutenant Governor, who chairs the panel.

"I am pleased that the administration has recognized the merits of this project," said Straus, who is also the House chair of the Joint Committee on Transportation. "The harbor and the facilities that serve Sippican Harbor are important public safety, recreational and economic assets that benefit the region."

The Massachusetts Seaport Economic Council was established several years ago and supports the commonwealth's 78 coastal communities through grant programs that support economic development and resilience to climate change.

The next council meeting is scheduled for September 9, 2021.