The grant and matching money will be used to pay for badly needed structural improvements to the 114-year-old masonry building and to convert its first floor, which is level with the beach, into an area providing services for marine tourists.

THE PROVIDENCE JOURNAL / Sandor Bodo

NEWPORT — For nearly 25 years, city officials and waterfront advocates have dreamed of transforming the historic Newport Armory on Thames Street into a harbor center for visiting mariners.

Now the idea appears to be steaming toward reality.

U.S. Sen. Jack Reed announced yesterday that the project will receive $713,000 in federal funds and a matching grant of $250,000 from the state Department of Environmental Management.

“That’s fantastic,” Bruce Bartlett, executive director of the Newport Redevelopment Agency and the city’s grants administrator, said after hearing the news yesterday.

The agency acquired the Armory from the state in 1984, and almost immediately a master plan for the 1894 building envisioned it catering to the needs of transient boaters. But the plan went nowhere and the agency went dormant. Three years ago, however, the reactivated agency renewed its efforts to move the plan forward, including seeking financing for the project.

The money will be used to pay for badly needed structural improvements to the 114-year-old masonry building and to convert its first floor, which is level with the beach, into an area providing services for marine tourists. These would include showers, laundry, restrooms, a lounge and a vending area, Bartlett said. The city is required to contribute about $140,000 to the project.

City Manager Edward F. Lavallee said that fiscal 2009 “is going to be very difficult budget year. We will have to make a decision about that. But if have the $713,000, I imagine this would be a priority.” He added, “This is welcome money because we definitely could not begin to tackle a building of that magnitude on our own.”

The plans for the harbor center also include extending the Ann Street Pier to expand docking, Bartlett said.

The city has already received money for the pier work, but the project requires permitting. Bartlett said that the city also needs to “make sure everything works properly with the neighbors” if the pier were to be lengthened.

Future plans also call for improvements to the second floor, which is level with Thames Street and currently leased by an antiques business. Plans call for opening up the rear of the building in some fashion to create “a view of the waterfront.” Such an improvement would help turn the building into “a gateway to the city” from the water. Bartlett said the city would seek historic tax credits to finance this work.

Other plans for the site include creating a stop for a proposed harbor shuttle. Money for the creation of the harbor shuttle has already been received and the service is being planned.

The first-floor improvements, however, can move forward immediately. Bartlett said it would probably take a year before detailed design plans are completed and a bid process completed.

“We hope to move forward quickly,” he said.

“Construction could start in the spring of next year.”

The federal funding approved for the harbor center was awarded by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Boating Infrastructure Grant (BIG) program. It’s the first time one of these grants has been awarded in Rhode Island, which was just one of 15 states to receive one this year.

“I am pleased that Newport is receiving this federal funding to build a new boating facility. The city is vital to Rhode Island’s tourism industry and this money will help ensure that both visitors and local boaters have access to high-quality facilities,” Reed said in a statement.

rsalit@projo.com