EAST BOSTON RESIDENTS PUSH TO RESTORE FUNDING FOR LOCAL SAILING CENTER
By Joe Spurr, Globe Correspondent | Page: B1
Like every other year, the Piers Park Sailing Center in East Boston is closed for the winter. Its frosted docks anchor three sailboats, bobbing gently with the water. Skyscrapers across the harbor sparkle in the early dusk.
Vince D’Addieco and Shannon Murphy still visit the dock, not just to sail the harbor, but to remember. To them - and hundreds of other local youngsters who bonded through its teamwork-oriented summer programs - Piers Park isn’t just where they learned to sail, or earned some extra money taking care of the boats - it is where they grew up.
But when spring returns, Massport’s $220,000 in annual funding will not, even though nearly everyone agrees the program has been a success since it began in 1995.
“By my second summer sailing, I was a new person,” said Murphy, 17. “I can still remember the first time I ever sailed a boat alone, and that is what gave me the confidence I still have today.”
For residents of East Boston, the program was a salve for years of wrangling with Massport, the agency that oversees Logan Airport, over everything from airplane noise to the size of parking lots. Now, after Massport decided to make the sailing center one of its first budget cuts, there is anger.
“Massport — with all of its good intentions — is looking for a quick fix, to look like they’re doing something,” said Peter Sullivan, an East Boston native and parent of two young sailors. “We don’t have the political might of South Boston and Charlestown.”
News of the cut came in late October, around the same time as the announcement of outgoing Massport executive director Virginia Buckingham’s six-figure severance package. The agency also cut some of its most highly publicized patronage jobs, and laid off workers to compensate for airline cutbacks following Sept. 11.
But, still, many in the community believe plenty of fat remains in the Massport budget — a point supported by a commission appointed by Acting Governor Jane Swift, which criticized Massport for filling jobs with patronage appointments rather than the most qualified applicants.
Massport isn’t promising any of its own money, but hopes to find a way to continue the program with other funding. The agency’s contribution had amounted to about two-thirds of the budget. Corporate sponsors made up the rest.
“Our goal is to retain the program,” Massport spokeswoman Georgeane Tacelli said.
But for the youth of East Boston, the prospect of losing the program is more than a political issue. It’s a lost opportunity, a chance to attend a combination summer camp and Outward Bound-like proving ground.
“Before I started, I was petrified of boats,” said D`Addieco, 17, an East Boston native. That was five years ago. He recently applied and was accepted into the Massachusetts Maritime Academy.
Two years ago, he met his girlfriend on the harbor.
“We co-instructed together,” he said, attributing the initial connection to the cooperation necessary when out on the harbor. “You need to build a bond between your crew members. I’d say my best friends are from Piers Park.”
Most of the approximately 300 youth members of Piers Park live with their families in East Boston or other neighborhoods abutting the airport.
“Living in East Boston, many of us can’t afford to take extended vacations,” said Christine Ohman, mother of two young sailors.
The program “really helped inner-city families in an activity we would never, ever get the opportunity to do,” she said. “There’s no way we could replace this for our children.”
Following the cut, Massport donated the 10 sailboats and two powerboats that were previously leased to the program. But without Massport funds no one is sure how many boats will be sailed.
Jeff Kuller, director of the program, said he is considering charging youths for the program - which has been free in the past. He is also considering cuts in staffing, hours of operation, and the number of boats in service.
“Affordable recreation is our goal,” he said. “That’s why we’re a sailing center and not a yacht club.”
In an effort to persuade Massport to restore funding, many instructors and students sent e-mails to the agency.
“My daughter, Krystina, and her friends do not have the luxury of the choice to sail if the program at Piers Park was not there,” Denise Buckley wrote. “I have witnessed my daughter and her friends grow into responsible young adults who want to give back to the community.”
Instructor Anne Wallace pleaded with officials:
“I have watched underprivileged children with low self-esteem blossom into confident savvy young sailors,” Wallace wrote. “This program has made a serious impact on the lives of hundreds.”
With a wheelchair-accessible facility and a specially equipped sailboat, the program also provides for the disabled.
Joseph Del Vecchio is a paralyzed veteran and sailing center pass holder. He also e-mailed on behalf of the program.
“Piers Park is one of two sites . . . that I frequent on the Eastern Seaboard that have the physical amenities and offer their boats for charter to qualified adaptive sailors,” Del Vecchio wrote. “With much hard work . . . I was awarded my US Sailing Keelboat Certification and passed the exam to skipper boats for racing. Much of this was made possible because of their excellent instruction and keen sensitivity to my needs.”
Aside from being able to afford an enjoyable after-school activity, parents say the program teaches valuable lessons.
Peter Sullivan’s two daughters are both in the program.
“My children see nothing but a person, from handicapped kids to every race on the planet,” Sullivan said. “They just don’t see any of that. They are also learning to work in teams and all of these great things . . . until some shortsighted bureaucrat with a broken calculator does this.”
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