Cambridge-based McManus Architects Inc. has been selected to be the architects for the new Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum in Boston’s Fort Point Channel neighborhood.

The Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum was struck by lightning and burned down in 2001. Architectural services for the project will include a 9,600-square-foot museum to be built on a pier off Congress Street as well as the historical replicas of the three Tea Party ships – the Eleanor, the Brig Beaver and the Dartmouth – to be permanently docked next to it, according to a statement.

The project is being developed by Historic Tours of America and Boston Properties, who is providing development management services. Funding comes from a Massachusetts Convention Center Authority loan, a Boston Redevelopment Authority grant and a capital investment by Historic Tours of America, according to a statement.

Construction on the project is anticipated to start in February 2011, and the museum is expected to open in spring of 2012.