Texas Maritime Museum eyes $14 million expansion to further its mission

Texas has just over 350 miles of open Gulf shoreline – a resource that provides recreation and economic stimulus to the Lone Star State. Perhaps no other place highlights our connection to the sea better than the Texas Maritime Museum in Rockport.

That museum can be traced back to the late 1970s and the annual Rockport-Fulton SeaFair Festival, where locals would share their personal collections. It wasn’t long before the community knew they needed a permanent home, and the museum officially opened their doors in 1989.

But now, they’re looking to expand.

Michael Ables, executive director of the Texas Maritime Museum, joined the Standard to talk about what they hope to do with the expansion. Listen to the interview above or read the transcript below.

This transcript has been edited lightly for clarity:

Texas Standard: Well, for those Texans who haven’t been to Rockport and the museum, tell us a little bit more about your mission. What does the museum currently offer?

The current facade of the Texas Maritime Museum. Courtesy of the Texas Maritime Museum

Michael Ables: Well, the Texas Maritime Museum offers all aspects of maritime-related events, essentially from the history of the Texas Navy to even the anglers that love to go out there on the waters and just enjoy the adventures of fishing out there on the waters.

But the fact is, is that that’s the reason why the Texas Maritime Museum is actually the official maritime museum of the state of Texas, because we offer all aspects of maritime-related events on the waters.

Now, you’re looking to expand. I hear your estimate is you’re trying to raise $14 million. First of all, what are you hoping to do?

Well, the fact is, is that we knew that we needed to expand to enhance our visibility – not only our visibility, but to be able to share the stories of the past. But basically to not only share the stories of the past, but also give people the experience so that they want to come back and continue to come back.

We’re actually looking at trying to incorporate some new technology into our new exhibits along the lines of like virtual reality, augmented reality and along those lines. But this will give us a chance of enhancing some of the stories, those amazing stories like, for instance, not a lot of people know about the Zavala.

Zavala was a ship that was uncovered many, many years ago that’s actually a part of the Texas Navy. And we have some rare artifacts along those lines. But we intend on sharing and enhancing those amazing stories. And that’s what this exhibit, this enhancement will actually do for us.

You mentioned the Texas Navy a couple of times, and I’m kind of fond of this organization. Tell us a little bit more about the Texas Navy, as it once was.

Well, you know, the fact is not a lot of people know that the state of Texas actually had three navies and the Texas Navy – because the fact it was a republic, it was its own country. It actually had to defend itself. And so the state established its own navy to protect the border, essentially our waters. And so they established that.

One of the ships was the Zavala. And that was actually a part of the, I believe, the second Navy. But the Zavala was a great example of that.

We actually have a great program coming up this Saturday talking about Texas Navy, in fact. And so if you’re not aware of it, if you’re not informed about the Texas Navy, you should definitely come out. We got some great speakers to even talk a little bit more about the history, the preservation and the efforts that are going on now to preserve those memories of those individuals that were part of the Texas Navy.

» TEXAS MUSEUM MAP: Explore more museums across the Lone Star State

What about raising funds for a project like this? How do you go about doing that there in Rockport?

You know, that’s a very interesting question. So right now, what we’re doing is it’s all about awareness. Everybody needs to be more aware about what we’re trying to do and how we’re trying to do it.

So first and foremost, if you’re interested in just learning a little bit more about the project, you’re more than welcome to get in contact with me. You’re more than welcome to call the museum.

But you’ll actually see more information coming out about our efforts. We’re wanting to make sure that everything is firm and crisp and clean. So that way when it gets into the hands of the donors, they know exactly what they’re doing or how we’re doing it and what their money is going towards.

And so if you’re interested, again, don’t hesitate to reach out to me. But that information is beautiful.

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