Since its inception, the TRHP vision has been to engage the public with programming and events that promote heritage and culture. With a host of historic and cultural sites in the park we have a plethora of opportunities to build the Park experience through collaboration.

We are now doing just that. Seventeen historic, cultural and heritage sites in New London and Groton have signed on as TRHP Partners to collaborate on programming, events and a host of initiatives to create a Park experience that is diverse, robust, memorable and fun for the whole family. There are two categories of TRHP Partners: Site Partners which have a heritage or cultural location within the Park open to visitors, and Institutional Partners which are committed to preserving and promoting our culture and history which may not have a site such as historic associations, “Friends” organizations, and educational institutions.

Here is the list of those who have signed on as TRHP Partners that will work together to develop and promote a TRHP experience that will attract a broad audience to the region. You’ll be hearing a lot more about this collaboration as programming efforts take shape.

The Park has received a $30,000 grant from the Panoram Foundation for operational and administrative support to continue to build the Park experience through collaboration with Partners, the water taxi operation as well as the development of historic boat tours.

“The Panoram Foundation has believed in the Park from the beginning by providing the funding that allowed the Yale Urban Design Group to complete the Park plan in 2015. Since that time it has continued to support our growth as demonstrated by this generous grant, which is the second consecutive five-figure grant they have awarded us,” said Executive Director Amy Perry. “They are a key partner not unlike the heritage sites and cultural institutions that play an essential role in our growth and success. We are thrilled and grateful for the confidence they have in us today and for our future.”

TRHP Board President Marian Galbraith added, “Panoram’s vision and commitment to our historic institutions has proven to be a true asset to our community.”

We conducted our third annual Water Taxi Rider Survey to find out how people heard about the Park, where they got their weekend activity information, where they were from, their ages, and what they visited while they were here. We also asked for a rating of their experience. This data helps us to make better and more strategic decisions about our marketing, the visitor experience and promotions. It will also provide good insights for our partner sites about where people are choosing to visit. We are happy to report that we garnered an average 4.8 star rating (5 being the highest) for the third consecutive year from the 101 surveys we received representing
328 passengers. Take a look!

We are requesting proposals from licensed commercial tour boat operators to provide water taxi shuttle service and boat tours linking our historic sites in the Thames River Memorial Day weekend through mid-September 2019 – 2021. The operator would utilize our two US Navy Willard utility boats.

Entering our fourth season, we saw more than 6,500 passengers ride the three-stop hop-on hop-off water taxi in New London and Groton.

The Request for Proposals (RFP) can be found here.

Deadline for submission is Monday, January 28th. Those interested must attend a pre-submittal meeting at 11 a.m., Tuesday, January 8, 2019, Fort Trumbull State Park Conference Center, 90 Walbach Street, New London, CT 06320, at which time proposers will have an opportunity to ask questions.

For more information on the park, visit www.thamesriverheritagepark.org.

Next season the Park plans to offer complimentary walking tours of both Fort Trumbull and Fort Griswold for passengers disembarking our water taxis. Groton resident, American history buff and member of Friends of Fort Griswold Dave Rose led some tours in September that were so well received that we will have him back to lead more next summer. We are also looking to train volunteer docents to lead tours of both Fort Griswold and Fort Trumbull. If you are interested in learning the Fort histories and sharing this knowledge with others please drop me a note. Hours are flexible. It’s fun, a chance to be outdoors, to meet folks from all over the map and share our rich history.