Pilgrim Monument and Provincetown Museum Announces Outdoor Engineers Inc. as Funicular Consultant for Bradford Access Project

The Pilgrim Monument and Provincetown Museum (PMPM) today announced Outdoor Engineers Inc., of Colorado and Switzerland, as the design consultant for the proposed funicular to connect the PMPM from Bradford Street to the property grounds. Outdoor Engineers Inc. has been selected to design and build the funicular, also called an inclined elevator, to transport visitors up High Pole Hill to the PMPM throughout the season. Outdoor Engineers Inc. specializes in designing and constructing passenger cableway systems including funiculars, inclined elevators, ropeways, ski lifts and other special transportation and lifting devices.

PMPM Trustee and Chair of the Bradford Access Project, Paul deRuyter, says that Outdoor Engineers Inc. is the right choice to complement the local team. “We want the best to work with us on the Bradford Access Project and by bringing Outdoor Engineers Inc. on board, we have a team of highly qualified and experienced consultants from the local, national and international levels,” said deRuyter.

The PMPM Board of Trustees is committed to the funicular project as the solution to the long-term problem of the historic property being disconnected from the bustling downtown of Provincetown.

“Our goal is to finally connect the Pilgrim Monument and Provincetown Museum, both physically and philosophically – to the town, its residents and the thousands of visitors that come here each year. Outdoor Engineers Inc. joins our highly skilled and talented team that is helping us design and build a funicular that will fit into the landscape of High Pole Hill and will complement the Bas Relief Park,” said Courtney Hurst, President of the PMPM Board of Trustees.

Oswald Graber, President of Outdoor Engineers Inc. has over 30 years of experience in designing funiculars, inclined elevators and cableways throughout the world. “Our company has been building funiculars for many years across the globe. We bring a deep knowledge and engineering expertise along with the highest safety standards to the Bradford Access Project. We are looking forward to being part of the team that will help transport people to the Pilgrim Monument via the new funicular,” said Graber.

Graber founded Outdoor Engineers Inc. after working in the cableway industry in Europe and the U.S. for 17 years. Outdoor Engineers Inc. focuses on designing and building specialty lifts for public and private owners in both urban and recreational environments. Some of Graber’s past projects include: a funicular at Dana Point, California, a funicular at Grand Rapids, Michigan, and an two inclined elevators at Telluride, Colorado, which proves the weather resistance of the systems.

The Bradford Access Construction Project will be managed by Jay Cashman, Inc. of Quincy, founded by Jay Cashman whose ancestor was involved in the building of the Monument in 1910. Cashman is donating his firm’s services to the project. Other team members are Coastal Engineering Company Inc. of Orleans, landscape architects Hawk Design, Inc. of Sandwich and architects Brown, Lindquist, Fenuccio & Raber of Yarmouthport.

The funicular will bring visitors from the Bas Relief Park on Bradford Street to the landscaped lawn of the Pilgrim Monument and Provincetown Museum. The PMPM is currently going through the permitting process with the town of Provincetown including the Historic District Commission, Conservation Commission and Planning Board, with the goal of beginning construction in the summer and completing the project in 2019.

The PMPM will continue to update the community on the status of the Bradford Access Project through its blog: pilgrim-monument.org/bradford-access-project

Free Saturday Art Program for Seniors at PAAM this Saturday

The Provincetown Art Association and Museum’s (PAAM) Art Reach program for teens is turning ten! Since 2008 the program has worked with teens and young adults along Outer Cape Cod to support the development of creativity and leadership skills. The 2018 anniversary celebrations include an inaugural workshop program, Art Reach Teaches (A.R.T.), to be taught by talented and seasoned Art Reachers on Saturday May 19. Painting, printmaking, narrative artmaking/creative writing, and life drawing classes will be on offer. No experience necessary! The accessible program is specifically targeted to serve seniors in the community and will be free of charge, including materials and instruction, thanks in part to an Amplify grant from the Massachusetts Cultural Council and a grant from the Bilezikian Family Foundation. Classes will be held in PAAM’s naturally lit, climate-controlled Museum School studios.

Art Reach is an afternoon creative immersion program offered by the Provincetown Art Association and Museum (PAAM); sessions take place in the Museum’s professional studios and galleries. The program runs two semesters: October through January; February through mid-May. Studio Art sessions meet 2x per week, Thursdays & Saturdays 3:30-6:30pm. Digital sessions meet 2x per week, Wednesdays & Saturdays 3:30-6:30pm. In April, student work is featured in PAAM’s galleries. Materials, instruction, snacks and transportation are provided free-of- charge. Art Reach is designed to support and engage our community’s underserved young people, ages 13-21 years old. The program is founded on the tenets of positive youth development and the recognition that each individual harbors creative strengths, talents, and untapped gifts and skills. No special experience is required—just a desire to participate and the ability to commit.

Art Reach participants are eager to share what they’ve learned. A.R.T. “allows us the opportunity to show what PAAM has taught us by teaching others; and we hope to unite adults with the younger generation by giving them the opportunity to learn from us!” There will also be a musical performance by the band Great Days, presented Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m.

The Provincetown Art Association and Museum is located at
460 Commercial Street, Provincetown. To apply online for the program and for more information visit www.paam.org/art , call Lynn Stanley, 508 487 1750 or email [email protected] Space is limited!

Provincetown Rates As The Nation’s Best Bike Network In A Small City

The tiny town at the tip of Cape Cod scored as the nation’s top bike network in the small city category of the PlacesForBikes City Ratings released this week.
PlacesForBikes, a project of the bicyc le industry advocacy group PeopleForBikes, announced its first-ever City Ratings at its annual conference this week in Indianapolis, Indiana. In the overall scores, Provincetown was awarded 2.1 stars on a 5-star scale, with the overall top-rating city of Fort Collins, Colorado, scoring 3.5.

“It’s great to have this fantastic feedback as we kick of our Bike Month events around town,” said Rik Ahlberg, chair of the Provincetown Bicycle Committee.

The City Ratings are a data-driven approach to rating bicycling across cities and towns of all sizes. The overall ratings are based on five underlying categories:

1. Ridership: Estimates how many and how often people are riding bikes.

2. Safety: Includes injuries and fatalities from vehicular crashes to people walking, biking, and driving.

3. Network: Rates how people are connected to their destinations using comfortable bike routes.

4. Reach: Measures how consistently a community’s bike network serves everyone in the community.

5. Acceleration: Indicates how quickly a community is improving its biking infrastructure and getting people riding.

Provincetown topped the Network category ratings early on when the PeopleForBikes Bicycle Network Analysis tool was released in 2017. The Network Analysis is based on a level of stress system initially developed by Peter Furth at Northeastern University. The analysis looks at a wide variety of data sourced from OpenStreetMaps including road widths, speed limits, bike lanes and paths, and how well the low-stress network connects residents to everyday destinations.

In the overall Network category nationwide, Provincetown scored 4.0, second behind Boulder, Colorado, at 4.1. The only other town on Cape Cod that was rated this year was Falmouth, which scored 1.1. The top five scores in Massachusetts were Boston (2.6), Cambridge (2.3), Melrose (2.2), Provincetown (2.1), and Somerville (1.7).

May is National Bike Month, May 12 – 20 is Bay State Bike Week, and Friday, May 18 is Bike to Work Day. The Bicycle Committee encourages everyone to bike to work or try bicycling for fun, fitness, or transportation. On Bike to Work Day, free coffee, fruit, and baked goods will be provided to all participants stopping by Town Hall 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. Also there will be a Blessing of the Bikes on May 24, 5:30 PM at the UU Meetinghouse; and a display of bike-related books on view throughout the month at the Provincetown Public Library.

Visit the Provincetown Bike Committee’s Bike Month event calendar at BikeProvincetown.org/bikemonth.