Protect Brig Niagara was organized with the goal to ensure that the US Brig Niagara is in the hands of people who can maintain her and operate her safely, successfully, and transparently as an actively sailing vessel in her role as an ambassador for the people and history of Pennsylvania.  Our concerns have reached a new level as, according to a statement made on August 9, 2024 by Captain Bailey who was recently named Niagara‘s captain. PHMCThe Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC) is the state agency that stewards the U.S. Brig Niagara and Erie Maritime Museum. The PHMC is responsible for the collect... has confirmed that Niagara will not be able to participate in Tall Ships Erie 2025 (Erie News Now article is here). And with that, we think we have the first confirmed example of how PHMC’s care of Niagara will directly and negatively impact Erie.

Tall Ships Erie is a major driver of tourism and based on recent trends it increasingly brought folks from out of town/state to Erie. Erie won Port of the Year the last two events, so we literally have one of the best Tall Ships festivals in the country and could have tried to capitalize on that. The latest numbers we could find from a Tall Ships Erie event were from 2016 and that event was estimated to have had a $6 million dollar impact on Erie. It is pretty disappointing that the Flagship that makes Erie the Flagship city will not be participating, especially since Niagara was one of the main drivers of the event. It’s also kind of embarrassing- ships from around the country (and potentially world) will be coming to Erie, but our own ship won’t even participate.

And on top of that, this was all preventable. In the Fall of 2023, the Flagship Niagara League (FNL), who was operating and maintaining Niagara, and the Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission (PHMC), who administered Niagara, had a disagreement over taking Niagara to shipyard to complete a required hull inspection, but also to scope out the longer shipyard period. PHMC initially refused to allow FNL to take Niagara to shipyard until Captain SabatiniFleet Captain William "Billy" Sabatini is the executive director and fleet captain of the Flagship Niagara League. Sabatini grew up in southeastern Massachusetts, on Cape Cod, and ... reminded PHMC in an email that not taking Niagara would cause issues with her inspection with the Coast Guard and close her to the public. FNL ended up taking Niagara, but PHMC refused to complete the below the waterline survey to plan the long overdue extended shipyard period at that time. Here we are one year later and that first step to getting Niagara sailing again still has not occurred. Since PHMC is committing to having Niagara sailing in 2026, it definitely seems like PHMC’s decision not to complete the survey in 2023 and instead delay it a year has directly impacted Niagara‘s ability to attend Tall Ships Erie 2025.  Will there be other implications as time continues to tick away?

PHMC’s inaction and delays now have very real consequences.  As community members and volunteers, we are left with more questions than answers.  

• What would it take to get Niagara ready in time to attend Tall Ships Erie 2025? Why isn’t the state willing to commit to doing so?
• PHMC stated that they are hoping to have a more museum focused future for Niagara to increase access to Niagara in Erie. If that’s their goal, why aren’t they participating in Tall Ships Erie right here in Erie?
• In 2019, 30,000 tickets were sold for that weekend, which is almost twice the number of people that visit the Erie Maritime MuseumThe Erie Maritime Museum (EMM) is a cultural institution located in Erie, Pennsylvania, dedicated to preserving and showcasing the region's maritime heritage. Established in 1997, ... in a year (Erie Maritime Museum attendance numbers). How is not attending Tall Ships Erie helping them increase their reach?
• Now that PHMC’s inaction and delays have caused Niagara to miss out on a major local event, are legislators and the Governor’s Office willing to do more to hold them accountable? Whether that is investigating their stewardship of Niagara, providing oversight, getting public commitments and hold them to them, etc.? If not, what will it take?
• Since this is another delayed milestone and missed event, are legislators and the Governor’s Office now willing to push PHMC to hold a public forum for the public to learn more about PHMC’s plans and ask any questions they have? The public deserves to know what is going on with Niagara since she belongs to all of us.
• Are our local government officials okay with the snail’s pace of action taken by PHMC as it begins to impact the Erie area’s tourism and economy? What will it take for them to speak up publicly and hold PHMC accountable? If they wait much longer, how much more will be lost?

We at Protect Brig Niagara continue to call for a public forum and encourage community members to keep contacting their local legislators and government officials. 

We Don’t Give Up the Ship!

Ginny and Steven