SoundWaters Receives $3 Million For New Harbor Center In Stamford

STAMFORD, CT — City officials announced Thursday SoundWaters has received a $3 million leadership gift from the Steven & Alexandra Cohen Foundation to support a new SoundWaters Harbor Center at Boccuzzi Park in Stamford.

Construction on the 12,100 square-foot building, which also includes beach restoration and public access to the water, is currently under way and is slated to be completed in mid-2022, according to a news release.

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Upon announcing the news, SoundWaters president Leigh Shemitz thanked the Cohen's foundation for their generosity.

"Steven and Alexandra Cohen, through their charitable foundation, have made a tremendous investment to advance opportunity and access at the heart of Stamford: our waterfront," Shemitz said in a news release. "At SoundWaters, we believe that our community is stronger when we are connected to, and learning from, the Sound. Complementing our existing coastal education center and schooner, the Cohen SoundWaters Harbor Center in Boccuzzi Park will enable the next generation to develop life skills, job skills and college skills through study and training on Long Island Sound."

The Cohen SoundWaters Harbor Center will be the base for three core programs:

• Young Mariners, which instills life skills and energizes young students through sailing, academics, and a sense of community
• Harbor Corps, hands-on maritime job skills training for young adults
• Research Intensive, college-level marine research opportunities for high school students.

It will also include launch access for SoundWaters' fleet of sailboats and publicly available kayaks and paddleboards, as well as the organization's research vessel and its iconic three-masted schooner.

"SoundWaters is more than a neighbor to us," Alex Cohen, the foundation's president, said in a news release, "they are an important part of our community providing education, access and opportunity to our local youth while protecting our local waters. We are more than happy to support their new Harbor Center."

Mayor David Martin noted SoundWaters has played a critical role in educating and enriching youth in Stamford for over 30 years.

"The new Cohen SoundWaters Harbor Center allows SoundWaters to expand this role," Martin said in a news release, "and anchors the city's revitalization of Boccuzzi Park, while increasing resources for education, maritime job training and recreational access to the Long Island Sound. I thank SoundWaters for their continued service to our young people and encouraging environmental responsibility for the Sound, and I thank the Cohens for their leadership and commitment by providing the support to make this wonderful Harbor Center dream a reality."

According to city officials, the Cohen SoundWaters Harbor Center is a community-funded project with 80 percent of the funding coming from private sources. A groundbreaking ceremony for the Cohen SoundWaters Harbor Center will take place later this spring.

Further information about SoundWaters can be found at soundwaters.org, and further information about the foundation can be found at steveandalex.org.