The Dorothy and Gail was the last ship built there

The historic waterfront building that houses the Shelburne Harbour Yacht Club (SHYC) and the Osprey Arts Centre, and is owned by the Town of Shelburne, has a unique back story to it.

Named the Dorothy and Gail building in tribute to the last ship built there in the 1960s, the building is part of the Muir Cox Shipyard complex. In its day it was used by Harley S. Cox and Sons to build large vessels under cover.

For many years the building sat empty until the filming of

The Scarlet Letter led to renovations in the early 1990s. By 2001 plans were well underway by members of the local arts community and the yacht club to give the building a new lease on life.

Monies were raised, grants were received and donations given. On May 10, 2003, the Osprey Arts Centre, named in honour of another famous Shelburne-built ship, opened its doors for the first time.

The Shelburne Harbour Yacht Club also enjoyed its first season at the new location in 2003. The yacht club holds a 30-year lease, which they paid $100,000 for in 2002, while the Osprey Arts Centre pays $1 a year lease fee.

“We are the benefactors of a very generous lease rate from the town,” says Hal Brolund, executive director of the Osprey Art Centre, adding the non-profit organization is responsible for maintaining and insuring the centre to keep it running and functioning.

A fire on May 19, 2019 caused extensive damage to the yacht club’s kitchen and extensive smoke damage throughout the building.

While the town’s insurance policy covered the fire and smoke damage to the building, it was up to the SHYC to replace everything inside, says commodore Rob Stork.

“We’ve been essentially trying to rebuild the interior part of the club including the kitchen and upstairs bar… all the associated parts of the club that aren’t part of the building itself,” he said, adding volunteer club members have been doing a lot of the work.

The same has been happening in the downstairs of the building where the Osprey Arts Centre calls home.

It’s taken the work of a lot of people to get the Osprey ready to open, says Brolund.

“We’ve had remediation crews working, cleaning up smoke damage. Volunteers in here cleaning the building, the board has been working overtime, it’s been a community project for sure.”