I was an early skeptic of plans by the National Coast Guard Museum for a downtown building on the New London waterfront, once I heard the state's chief environmental officer raise concerns about building on the flood plain there.

It also seemed from the outset of the public discussion of the problems with the site that museum officials were stubbornly pursuing the project without an obvious solution to the significant flood waters issue.

And fundraising had slipped to a disappointing trickle.

But count me back in the boat and rowing hard for a downtown New London museum.

After all, the benefits of a bold development downtown, drawing tourists and connecting to ferries, trains and downtown businesses, are obvious.

I owe my conversion back to enthusiasm to a persuasive presentation made recently to The Day's Editorial Board by the museum's CEO, the cool, calm and smart Dick Grahn, and the project architect, the talented Charles Klee, a principal in the Boston architectural firm Payette.

Grahn attributed the lackluster fundraising to some significant headwinds, which he says largely have been resolved.

One of those resolutions was the commitment of federal money to the project, an anticipated $30 million that will be added to $20 million from the state. The museum needs to raise the balance, now roughly estimated at $50 million.

The lack of federal funding had been a deterrent for some potential donors, Grahn said, because they felt the government should pay a share of a museum honoring a military service.

Another powerful headwind, Grahn suggested, was the concern about whether the building could meet the regulatory challenges of building in a flood plain.

Some prospective donors essentially said come back and see us again when you've worked out those regulatory issues, Grahn said.

Well, it turns out they are ready to revisit some of those people, because they do now have answers to the questions about the regulatory cloud that seemed to hang over the project.

Indeed, Grahn and Klee explained, they spent much of 2016 completely remaking the general design of the building and the site, abandoning the original plan to build part of it over the water.

Instead, some fill will be used to straighten and strengthen the shoreline at the site and the entire parcel will be buttressed with a new bulkhead.

To accommodate all pertinent regulations, it has been designed to have a 16-foot-tall ground floor that could not be used for any purpose and would allow water to flow through it, without substantial debris to damage buildings downstream, in the event of a significant storm or flood.

The result is a tall and boxy building that, from some perspectives, competes for attention with the adjacent Henry Hobson Richardson Union Station.

I like it. It is modern and bold and will work together, from the river side of the site, to make both buildings prominent and distinct public spaces. From the city side, the historic red brick train station will still dominate the streetscape.

Grahn said they have met with all the appropriate state and federal regulators, from historic preservationists to environmental officials, and achieved a consensus that the project, in this configuration, could be approved.

Still ahead are detailed designs, applications and public hearings.

But Grahn strikes me as a straight shooter and I believe him when he says regulators are comfortable with the direction of the general design and that no one is taking a liberal interpretation of the guidelines, that the project will indeed be soundly built to withstand the worst flood that might occur there in the next 500 years.

With the new design and fundraising back on track, construction is scheduled to begin in 2018.

Grahn said the museum, which has raised $9 million so far, plans to raise $13 million this year. That's a good yardstick to follow its progress.

I also was impressed with Grahn's obvious public spirit.

"We are not private developers looking to make a buck on this," he noted.

Indeed.

They are on a significant mission for the Coast Guard, to celebrate, among other things, missions measured in lifesaving and heroism.

May we all wish them the best of success.

This is the opinion of David Collins.

d.collins@theday.com