PROVIDENCE – The Senate has approved legislation that would tweak the guidelines of the Industrial Recreational Building Authority so it could provide financing to build the SSV Oliver Hazard Perry, a replica of a three-mast 19th-century warship that will serve as an oceanic classroom for Rhode Island’s students.
The authority provides loan guarantees on mortgages of industrial and recreational properties that have some public benefit. But the ship project was turned down because it didn’t meet the requirements that projects receiving the guarantee be land-based and in Rhode Island only.
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A nonprofit organization, Oliver Hazard Perry Rhode Island, already has a contract with Promet Marine Services in Providence for the first phase of construction on the ship, and the rest is expected to take place next year and the year after in Newport in public view.
Sen. Louis P. DiPalma, D-Little Compton, said the organization has raised nearly $2.2 million in donations and has another $1.7 million in loans already committed to it. The group needs to raise or borrow a total of $2.7 million to fund the $6.6 million project, named after the Rhode Island-born Navy hero of the War of 1812.
Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist has expressed her support for the project, according to DiPalma.
The legislation – S 0859 – adds language to the laws establishing IRBA to allow it to guarantee mortgages to large ships such as the Oliver Hazard Perry.
Under the bill, as long as the backers do not default, the state would not pay any part of the loan. Having the state as a backer would better position the organization to obtain financing, DiPalma said.
“Having our very own tall ship would bring attention to Rhode Island’s rich naval and maritime history,” DiPalma said. “The Oliver Hazard Perry will be a proud symbol of our state and the continued strength of our maritime industries.”
The bill and been transferred to the House, where Rep. J. Russell Jackson, D-Newport, has introduced identical legislation.
