Portland Harbor Museum merges with Maine Maritime Musuem
06/14/2010
Portland Harbor Museum has merged with Maine Maritime Museum in Bath, ensuring that the important collections of the Portland museum are preserved and the city's long and important maritime stories continue to be told. Follow the link below to see the MMM full-page ad in the Portland Press Herald and to read some of the press and editorial coverage about the merger.
“It is a rare occurrence in the nonprofit world when a museum seeks out another museum to entrust with its collections to ensure those historical treasures are well cared for,” said Amy Lent, executive director of Maine Maritime Museum. “The trustees of Portland Harbor Museum deserve a huge round of applause from the people of Portland for taking such visionary action. With this merger, the collections are cared for, the membership will continue to have access to excellent programming in the Portland area, and the donors who have supported the organization know that their funds are being used efficiently and effectively.”
Officially the merger took place on June 1, and the transfer of artifacts and other parts of the collection will be completed by late July. Mark Thompson, who has been executive director for Portland Harbor Museum for the past five years, has accepted the position of Regional Director for Southern Maine with Maine Maritime Museum.
Although Portland Harbor Museum’s physical space is closed, programming activities in Portland will continue with events scheduled in the next several months, including a guided tour of Fort Scammell on August 8, a book discussion by noted maritime novelist James L. Nelson on August 27, a lecture about maritime disasters by Chester Hopkins, former vice president of Marine and Terminal Operations for French Line, and the annual ChowderFest on October 1. The events will be conducted in various locations around the city. Further information will be available at the MMM website, www.MaineMaritimeMuseum.org.
“As Maine Maritime Museum we have always taken a statewide view in telling the story of Maine’s maritime story, past, present and future, from our location here in Bath,” said Lent. “This merger begins a new, exciting chapter in the museum’s history as we support and promote the important stories of Portland Harbor in the place where they happened.”