New London — The group planning the Thames River Heritage Park is hoping to sustain the momentum generated by the water taxi’s first season of service last summer, despite the loss of park foundation Chairman Chris Cox, who died suddenly on Jan. 6.

“We’re going to move forward and make Chris proud of us,” Groton City Mayor Marian Galbraith, vice chairwoman of the park foundation, said Tuesday. “We’re going to pick up the initiatives he was involved in. We don’t give up.”

The foundation’s executive committee has met in the last week and expects to recommend a new chairman to the entire group at its next meeting Feb. 8, Galbraith said. Cox had been working to raise funds for the park from foundations, grants and corporate sponsors, and that work will continue, she added. The funds will support staff and operations of the park, which comprises more than a dozen historical and cultural sites on the New London and Groton sides of the river, connected by water taxi service and common signage, marketing and programming. Fort Trumbull and Fort Griswold state parks, along with the proposed National Coast Guard Museum, the Submarine Force Museum and Nautilus, would serve as anchor sites.

Amy Perry, interim executive director of the park, said Cox had begun meeting with potential corporate sponsors, and that outreach will continue. The goal is to raise $60,000 to $75,000 by April to support a year of operations, she said. When the new season of water taxi service begins on Memorial Day, the park foundation is hoping to have programming in place so that visitors can fully experience the various attractions as parts of a larger whole. Last summer, with water taxi service just getting started, the park still was in a formative stage as a coherent attraction.

“We are in the phase of taking it to the next level,” Perry said. “I have no doubt we’ll get there.”

Perry said that in the few months she worked with Cox since becoming interim director this fall, he impressed on her how important the park is to the communities, the individual sites and to the region's economy. The foundation also met for a "branding strategy session" last month to clearly define the park's purpose and message.

"We're more energized than ever," Perry said.

Projects ahead for this winter and spring include raising funds to add features to the water taxis to make the ride more comfortable, possibly opening an office and developing events and programs with local theater groups, Galbraith said.

"We want to develop and create the park experience, and figure out how we pull this together," she said.

j.benson@theday.com