I’m an architect from Florence, Italy and a Vineyard summer resident since 1994. I am an active campaigner for ending over-tourism in my hometown.

Representatives of Martha’s Vineyard Ocean Academy, or MVOA, owners of the tall ship in Vineyard Haven, are eager to find a new home for their topsail schooner. And they believe the HarborWorks project could be that home.

A new and unprecedented development proposal is on the table from a new nonprofit looking to reshape a portion of prime real estate on the Vineyard Haven waterfront.

The view from the publisher’s office of The Martha’s Vineyard Times looks out over the weathered, gray-shingled boatyard of the world-renowned Gannon & Benjamin Marine Railway, and beyond that, the storied blue waters of Vineyard Haven Harbor, one of the last great working waterfronts in New England.

A new non-profit proposes a public pavilion, open space for harbor view, and a way to preserve a working waterfront.