THE BAYFRONT MARITIME CENTER
At BMC, we believe in the power of hands-on programming.
Founded in 1998, the Erie Maritime Foundation DBA Bayfront Maritime Center is a 501 (c)(3) community based nonprofit organization which focuses on maritime education. Sailing, boat building, rowing, paddling, adaptive sailing, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) curriculum, and maritime career awareness are all incorporated into hands-on, project-based learning. Multiple programs are designed to actively engage students in their own education.
BMC has collaborated with Erie’s Public Schools since 2003 to integrate maritime studies with traditional curriculum and help inspire a love of learning and appreciation for Erie’s greatest natural resource, Presque Isle Bay.
BMC’s Mission: to design and implement engaging, hands-on, maritime-themed educational, vocational and recreational opportunities for the community in a universally accessible waterfront facility.
INTRODUCING OUR EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR:
Captain Christopher Cusson
Captain Chris Cusson, Wife Rosemary and Daughter Cordelia
Captain Christopher Cusson has most recently served in the position of Waterfront Manager of the Bayfront Maritime Center. He comes to BMC with 24 years of maritime experience from small boat instruction to leading sail training programs under sail.
Captain Cusson began his maritime career in the U.S. Coast Guard at the age of eighteen. After his service, he attended Maine Maritime Academy where he first discovered his passion for sailing, maritime education and saw the impact sail training has on people’s lives. He has experience as a sailing instructor, educator, and sail trainer at many reputable organizations including Boston Sailing Center, Offshore Sailing School, Mystic Seaport, Sea Education Association and Flagship Niagara League. His professional sailing career brought him to Erie in 2008 to be an officer on the U.S. Brig Niagara.
In 2015 Captain Cusson became part of the full-time crew of Niagara where he met his wife, fellow crew member and ship’s cook Rosemary Cusson – O’Brien. Captain Cusson was appointed as one of the Captains of the U.S. Brig Niagara and Schooner Lettie G Howard in 2018. Captain Cusson holds a 200-ton NC Master License, a 1600-ton Oceans Mate License and is a graduate of Maine Maritime Academy, University of Connecticut, and the Williams-Mystic Maritime Studies Program.
Captain Cusson and his wife Rosemary welcomed their first child in 2022 which prompted his shift to a more land-based operational role with BMC as Waterfront Manager. They are welcoming their second child this spring and look forward to having their children participate in BMC programs.
FUND OUR PROGRAMS
Donate
SUPPORT US THROUGH
Membership
JOIN OUR TEAM
Volunteer
Waterfront Campus and Boat Shop
Bayfront Maritime Center
The Bayfront Maritime Center is located on the East Canal Basin at 40 Holland Street, Erie, Pennsylvania 16507. Our state-of-the-art facility includes a large boat shop, seven classrooms, locker rooms, offices, a lunch room and a large multi-purpose lobby. Floating docks adjacent to the building allow for easy access to the water and teams of local students are often seen launching a variety of boats they have built with their own hands!
BMC’s waterfront campus is one of the finest in the United States, with a large fully equipped boat shop, CNC digital fabrication equipment, maritime simulation equipment and a fleet of vessels which serve as floating classrooms.
BMC serves approximately 1,000 citizens a year and relies on community support, volunteers and grant funding to continue it’s mission. The Bayfront Maritime Center’s longest running program is EASE (Erie Adaptive Sailing Experience).
BMC has worked with youth, with a particular focus on teens, previously providing years of alternative education for Erie’s Pubic Schools, after school programming, a credit recovery summer program, and beginning in 2018-2019 a Maritime Pathways Program for Erie High School students.
THANK YOU to all of BMC’S grantors, donors, partners, board members, volunteers, and staff for your tremendous support! Together we can make a difference.
What is the Erie Maritime Foundation? Erie Maritime Foundation is the legal name of Bayfront Maritime Center. When we received our 501(c)(3) status, we opted to go by Bayfront Maritime Center to avoid confusion with the Erie Maritime Museum. We are not affiliated with the museum, though our buildings are adjacent to one another.
- President: Leigh Anne Kramer-Nasser
Vice President: Vincent Nientimp
Treasurer: Robert Wooler
Secretary: Anna Chemsak
Director: Kathy Lindel
Director: Richard Eisenberg
Director: Mitchel Miller
2007 Annual Report
2009 Annual Report
2011 Annual Report
2013 Annual Report
2015 Annual Report
2017 Annual Report
