I was an early fan of the proposed National Coast Guard Museum in downtown New London when it was first proposed, seduced, I suppose, by the renderings of the glassy curved building hanging out over the water.

Naïve, I thought then that museum proposers had worked out all the thorny issues of building on such a cramped, flood-prone site.

I was wrong about that.

I thought they had strong leads on big donors and they would move along quickly on their campaign to raise more than $50 million in private donations.

I was wrong about that.

I thought, too, that the proposed $20 million pedestrian bridge over the railroad tracks on Water Street — the one Gov. Dannel Malloy promised $20 million for — would lead to ample parking at the Water Street garage.

Turns out I was wrong about that, too.

I started looking a little more closely at the museum's effect on downtown parking when the Water Street parking garage started closing this summer because it was full.

This has never happened on this scale before, but clearly the combination of Electric Boat employees now parking there and a spike in the number of ferry passengers is maxing out the garage during the crucial summer season, when museum interest also would peak.

I got some surprising, worrisome answers.

The most surprising thing I heard was from Wes Pulver, museum executive director, who told me the museum has no parking plans of its own and doesn't intend to make any.

That's more or less the city's responsibility, he said.

"The museum is not building a garage," he said.

He did add that the museum is cooperating with a state-funded $105,000 parking demand study that is being conducted.

The study, which is looking more at how painful the parking problem will get, rather than focusing on solutions, is due by early next year — the year before the museum plans to start construction.

He also sent along a copy of the memorandum of agreement for the museum, noting the state agreed to support ancillary work, including "traffic redesigns, rail transportation concerns, parking needs assessments."

There's nothing in the memo about anyone creating more parking.

When I asked Mayor Michael Passero about the museum's hands-off approach to parking development, he said you "can put me down as eyebrows raised."

Indeed, a developer placing responsibility of parking on the municipality seems backward to me. Aren't developers usually required to provide parking for big-impact projects?

If the museum is larger than 100,000 square feet, state law requires that it submit the proposals to review by the state traffic authority, which would look at the effect on traffic patterns and parking.

When I asked Malloy's office why the governor has promised $20 million for a pedestrian bridge that leads to a garage that is often full, I got an unexpected answer: The bridge is meant only to take pedestrians safely across Water Street, to access the railroad track platforms, new museum and proposed new ferry terminal.

The overhead bridge's stairs and elevators are now planned to land somewhere on the Parade Plaza, and the bridge will only extend to the garage if there is money left in the pot, the governor's facilitator for the project told me.

Put me down as eyebrows raised.

That promise of $20 million is included in the memorandum, which Malloy signed, but count me as skeptical that a Malloy successor in the governor's office will honor it, as the state, in its financial meltdown, begins starving children and widows.

I am still a fan, however skeptical, of the downtown site, which would do wonders for downtown economic development.

Given all the thorny issues with the chosen site — on the wrong side of railroad tracks, on a flood plain that state law discourages development on, and the lack of a parking plan — I would think some thought also would be given to a Plan B.

But I was wrong again.

"We are 100 percent looking at the site downtown right now," Pulver assured me.

And I thought the military always has a backup plan.

This is the opinion of David Collins.

d.collins@theday.com