MATTAPOISETT — Apart from the lack of permanent structures, passersby may not be able to tell that the Mattapoisett Boatyard suffered a devastating fire that destroyed six buildings, 47 vehicles and 14 boats in a matter of minutes on Aug. 19, 2022. 

Eight months later, the Boatyard’s gravel lot is full of ships. Vehicles come and go and, according to Boatyard co-owners David and Ned Kaiser, they “never really skipped a beat.”

“If anything, we're already doing better than we have in the past,” said David, who noted that while customer service was always a priority, it is “even more enhanced now.”

Now, the Boatyard is closer than ever to rebuilding. 

“We have, finally, a final set of plans,” said David. 

The new building, which is estimated to cost around $2.5 million, will have a first-floor footprint of approximately 11,000 square feet. Its second floor will bring the total area to around 15,000 square feet, David said. 

The building will have concrete floors, climate controls in some work areas, a waterfront office and a multipurpose room, David said. 

The multipurpose room will house company events for the Mattapoisett Yacht Club, which has called the Boatyard home since the 1970s. Other local nonprofit organizations can use the room as well, David said.

According to the Kaisers, there are no plans to open a restaurant at the Boatyard or obtain a liquor license, contrary to rumors they have heard. 

Since the fire, GoFundMe campaigns and fundraising efforts have raised over $150,000 for the Boatyard. Even with the outpouring of support from the Tri-Town community, money is still a barrier. 

To help soften the financial burden, the Boatyard approached the Mattapoisett Select Board about setting up a tax increment financing program with the town during a Jan. 10 meeting of the Board. 

A tax increment financing program is an agreement between a municipality and a private business that provides relief for taxes paid on any improvements made to a parcel of land. 

The amount of taxes reduced can be anywhere from five percent to 100%, over a period of five to 20 years. 

David is looking for a 100% tax reduction on improvements made during the first year of the program. 

This will then decrease by 10% each year for 10 years, until the Boatyard is paying a full tax rate. The full rate will include the assessed value of the property, as well as the value of any additions. 

In the wake of the fire, the Boatyard’s 24 full-time employees moved to the company’s 5,000-square-foot property on Route 6. 

“We renovated that building a little bit [and] made the improvements we needed to be able to work there,” said David. “It's definitely a sort of organized chaos.”

“We can't emphasize how good of a team we have that stuck with us through a very terrible time,” said Ned. “If anything, [the fire] made everybody work together a million times better, and closer, and created a little bit of a family.”

Since the fire, the Boatyard added three full-time employees and five part-time high school student workers who are learning the ropes. 

The Kaisers estimate that the Boatyard’s new building will be ready to be constructed by October, which gives them 20 weeks to “get all the site work done,” said Ned.  

They estimate that the building will be move-in ready by January of 2024.

“The timing actually works out really well because [in] October, November, December, we're so busy, we'd never be able to move in,” said David.

It’s not just buildings that will return to the Boatyard’s lot on Ned’s Point Road. 

According to Ned, Phillip Macomber, the Boatyard employee who was injured in the blaze, is slated to return to work in May.

“He's doing remarkably well,” said David. “He just can't wait to rejoin the team.”