Thomas Breen Photo
English Station: From eyesore to cultural draw?
The former English Station power plant, located in the middle of the Mill River on Ball Island in New Haven Harbor, occupies eight acres of abandoned land. Its unique location would make a perfect Museum of Contemporary Art.
Presently, Connecticut doesn’t have an international art destination or institution that could bring 200,000 or more additional tourists to the state each year. The English Station or The Museum of Contemporary Art, Connectictut, or MoCAConn, can accomplish that.
Do the math. If you draw a circle with a 150-mile radius around the English Station, it reaches the northern border of Massachusetts, the southern border of New Jersey, some of the Hudson Valley, Rhode Island, Long Island, NYC, and Connecticut. The population is about 39 million with a combined income of $3.5 trillion, according to 2019 figures. This area contains the wealthiest and most educated population on planet Earth.
This population alone could sustain the museum. If you include domestic and international travelers drawn primarily from:
- NYC (66.6 million visitors, 2019)
- Boston (22.8 million visitors, 2019)
- Long Island vacationers (32.1 million visitors, 2020)
- Newport, R.I. (1.3 million visitors, 2019),
the museum cannot fail to be a major tourist draw for Connecticut.
There is an endless pool of artists, national and international, who will eagerly provide provocative, cutting edge and educational work. A focus on Connecticut or regional artists who have earned a place among the new generation of artistic superstars can be an ongoing feature.
Repurposing and transforming an older building into a museum has been done successfully many times.
- A former Power Station in London is now the Tate Modern, which had 5.8 million visitors in 2019.
- A former Train Station in Paris is now the Museum D’Orsay, which had 4 million visitors in 2019.
- A former mill in North Adams, Massachusetts, was transformed into MassMoCA, which had 180,000 visitors in 2019.
The showcasing of artistry and creativity at MoCAConn will raise the stature of Connecticut’s art and tourism industry immeasurably.
Hosting the City-Wide Open Studios alternative space at MoCAConn each year can transform that weekend into a major Northeastern art event, generating tourist dollars and boosting the Fairhaven and Downtown economies. Also, Yale University can be accommodated by MoCAConn to showcase its School of Art alumni, whose work is too large for the Yale Art Gallery.
There are many ways the building can make money beyond the admission cost.
- Upper floors can be a hotel for anyone wishing to experience and savor the Museum space, the view and the art for an evening or longer.
- Special events can be hosted.
- Boat rental slips alongside the retaining walls or nearby can induce boating enthusiasts to visit and generate interest in the newly built Long Wharf Boat House.
The money to finance this project can come from multiple public sources. Additionally, the super wealthy love legacy projects and often make major donations.
The handsome, imposing structure of the English Station with its Art Deco architectural elements and its superb location is self-promoting. However, giant neon lights on the smokestacks with the letters MoCAConn will broadcast its existence, further beckoning art lovers around the Sound to revisit.
This project serves many purposes:
- Preserves an iconic historic structure and repurposes it.
- Saves tens of millions of further environmental remediation costs.
- Injects a capital stream into the local and regional economy perpetually.
- Transforms Connecticut into an international art destination.
- Promotes Connecticut’s significant history.
- Creates hundreds of permanent jobs.
It’s time to start the dialog to “Save Our Station” (S.O.S.)
The English Station was built to turn coal into electricity. Now is the time to turn “carbon into culture.”
Joe Fekieta is a New Haven-based artist.
This story belongs on The Onion, not the NHI.