For immediate release

The Lewis & Clark Exploratory Center Presents Two New Historic Boat Replica

On Saturday, October 17th, at 4 PM the Lewis & Clark Exploratory Center will be presenting two new historic boat replicas as part of its capital campaign launch. The event will take place at the Lewis & Clark Exploratory Center’s Keelboat Barn in Darden Towe Park.

The Center’s two newest boat replicas were built with the help of middle school and high school participants in LCEC’s summer programs. The Red Pirogue was modeled after one of three boats to take the Lewis and Clark Expedition up the Missouri. The River Ferry, a one-person rope ferry, was constructed using a 19th Century ferry design provided by historic boatwright Butch Bouvier. Both boats will be part of the Lewis & Clark Exploratory Center's historic boat display.

Lewis & Clark President Anne Hemenway and Albemarle County Board of Supervisors Board Member Sally Thomas will be making opening remarks at Saturday's event, announcing the final, public phase of LCEC’s capital campaign. The Center has $300,000 left to raise out of a budget of $1,300,000. The Virginia Department of Transportation is one of the principal funders of the Lewis & Clark Exploratory Center through its Enhancement program, which supports transportation museums and pedestrian and handicapped access trails. Part of the future Center will be a ferry that crosses the Rivanna River. The new one-person rope ferry is a preliminary model for the larger ferry that will be put in place after the completion of the building.

The Lewis & Clark Exploratory Center serves the area’s youth in on-site and in school programs, including a new afterschool program this fall and next spring that teaches children about the environment through art. This program is funded through the Charlottesville-Albemarle Community Foundation’s Prana Grant.

For more information, please contact:

Alexandria Searls, Executive Director, 434-979-2425

Anne Hemenway, President, 434-760-0066

Francis Lawrence, capital campaign chair and boat building leader, 434-296-7138