National Coast Guard Museum Launches New Website

Storied history and traditions of United States Coast Guard come alive online

NEW LONDON, Conn. (July 15, 2013) – The National Coast Guard Museum Association has launched a new website www.CoastGuardMuseum.org to inform, engage, and communicate about the design, development and programming of the new National Coast Guard Museum intended to be built in downtown New London, Connecticut.  Developed by Quinn & Hary Marketing, a Regan Communications company based in New London, CT,  the new website brings to life the storied history and traditions of the United States Coast Guard, as well as showcases the current design plans and fundraising efforts for the new museum. The functionality of the site also allows for donations to be made and enables people to communicate directly with Association board members.

“This is a wonderful addition to our development, fundraising and marketing efforts,” said John Johnson, Treasurer of the National Coast Guard Museum Association. “Quinn & Hary did a masterful job listening to our goals and objectives and then translating them into this comprehensive site. It gives us a solid online presence for the new museum.”

The National Coast Guard Museum Association recently launched a fundraising campaign to raise $1 million by Labor Day.  Through minimum donations of $1,000, $5,000 or a three year commitment of $15,000, these initial contributors to the National Coast Guard Museum will become members of the “Barque EAGLE Society,” which will receive a unique limited edition painting of the United States Coast Guard Barque EAGLE created on canvas by famed Coast Guard artist Tony Falcone of Prospect, Connecticut.  The image is being created by Falcone after sailing on EAGLE this summer. Each image will be signed and numbered by the artist and ready for immediate hanging by the donor.   For more information or to make a donation, anyone interested may contact the National Coast Guard Museum Association at 860.443.4200 or by visiting the new website www.CoastGuardMuseum.org.

“We have been overwhelmed by the outpouring  of support,” added Johnson.  “The donations to the Barque EAGLE Society will allow us to  engage architects, engineers, site planners and traffic consultants,  so that we can meet our goal of breaking ground on Thursday, May 15, 2014.”

The National Coast Guard Museum Association has achieved its initial goal of raising  $100,000 for the new museum. This milestone came less than 15 days into a 100-day local fundraising campaign called “The First 100,” which was launched on June 1st to generate initial funds for the development, programming and marketing of the new museum.

Donald A. Kimball, a retired Word War II Coast Guard veteran from Stonington, Connecticut, became the 100th donor, and will be honoured, along with the other First 100 contributors, with a bronze plaque inscribed with his name and placed at the entrance of the new museum. Kimball is a fourth generation Coast Guard alumni, and donated $1,000 to the museum in memory of this grandfather, Albert Kimball, who was skipper of a three-mast vessel in 1918.   

Tony Falcone has been painting professionally since 1974. After serving as a New Haven firefighter for seven years, he discovered his love of mural-painting and left the Fire Department to establish his studio in a vintage dairy barn located in Prospect, Connecticut. It is there, as well as throughout the United States, that he creates most of his “imaginistic” murals, canvases and portraits.

For the past 10 years, Falcone has been creating a series  of oil paintings on linen depicting the history of the United States Coast Guard from WWII through “9/11,” commissioned by the U.S. Coast Guard Alumni Association and the Class of 1962 for the Coast Guard Academy in New London. The ninth painting in that series, an 11-foot canvas entitled “D-Day at Omaha Beach,” was unveiled at the Academy in a special D-Day 65th anniversary commemorative ceremony June 5, 2009.  The “9/11” painting, depicting the Coast Guard’s critical role in the evacuation of 650,000 people from Battery Park in lower Manhattan on September 11, 2001, was exhibited in 2011 at the Intrepid Museum in Manhattan in conjunction with the 10th anniversary “9/11 Retrospective.”

Other recent commissions include: murals in the Yale University Law School, a floor mural for the Yale University Peabody Museum of Natural History, a commemorative “trompe l’oeil” mural for the Alumni Center Bar at the Coast Guard Academy, and interior murals for the Floyd Little Field House at Hillhouse High School in New Haven, Connecticut.  Falcone’s murals also enhance Albertus Magnus College, the Fusco Corporation, New Haven Register, and the downtown area of Old Saybrook.  

In April 2013, the Commandant of the US Coast Guard, Admiral Robert J. Papp announced the proposed location and designs for the much-anticipated National Coast Guard Museum intended to be built in the New London Waterfront District adjacent to the city's train station and ferry terminals. Plans include a four-story, 54,300-square-foot building with four floors of interactive exhibits, event space and lecture rooms, as well as a reception area with gift shop and café. In addition, plans anticipate docking the Coast Guard's tall ship, barque Eagle, at an adjacent pier serving as an additional attraction. A pedestrian overpass across the railroad tracks will connect the museum with the local ferry terminal and train station helping to usher visitors worldwide as they come to experience this first national museum dedicated to the U.S. Coast Guard's history.

“Respect the past, engage the present and look to the future” - the new National Coast Guard Museum will be a fitting tribute to the men and women of the service – those currently serving, those wanting to serve, and all those who have served over the past 223 years.  The National Coast Guard Museum will be a place where guests will be enlightened and amazed by tales of the Coast Guard’s rich history of bravery, devotion and patriotism. Americans and visitors from all over the world will visit and be inspired by a legacy of service and honor. 

The National Coast Guard Museum Association, Inc. is a private nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation and promotion of the United States Coast Guard history and tradition.

About Quinn & Hary Marketing

Quinn & Hary Marketing is a full service communications and advertising agency located in New London, Connecticut. Founded in 2002, Q&H has extensive experience in developing and executing a broad range of communications and marketing services for its southern New England clients. Effective January 2013, Quinn & Hary Marketing became a wholly owned subsidiary of Regan Communications Group. For more information, please visit www.quinnandhary.com .