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The historic ship museum in June received a letter from the Navy asking for detailed plans on how it will repair two of its ships. Patriots Point has not yet responded. A Navy spokeswoman said all ship museums received the letter, and organizations unable to take care of former Navy ships could lose them.
By Ashley Fletcher Frampton
aframpton@scbiznews.com
Published Oct. 23, 2009
Patriots Point Naval and Maritime Museum didn’t need a reminder from the U.S. Navy that its historic ships need repairs and that it is responsible for making them.
But it got one in June.
The letter from Rear Admiral J.P. McManamon, dated June 18, also asked for detailed plans on how Patriots Point will either fund and execute needed repairs to the USS Yorktown and USS Clamagore or dispose of them.
The letter, sent to all organizations that house water-borne historic naval ships, gives no consequence for lack of immediate action on either front. But according to Kathleen Roberts, a Navy spokeswoman, “If the ship museum can’t maintain the ship, the Navy may look to transfer the vessel to another organization that can maintain the ship.”
Roberts said she couldn’t comment on whether Patriots Points’ plans to maintain its historic ships are adequate because it hasn’t yet received a response to the letter.
That response came up for discussion in a Patriots Point Development Authority board meeting earlier this week.
For months, Patriots Point officials have been working to figure out how they’ll find the money for needed repairs to its ships, estimated at around $60 million. The local tourist attraction operates on $8 million in self-earned revenue.
Thanks to a $9.2 million state loan, Patriots Point in August was able to stage a dramatic tugboat rescue for the USS Laffey, its ship most in danger of sinking. The Laffey is now drydocked for hull repairs.
Meanwhile, officials have been working on a plan for better utilizing the 445 acres surrounding the floating museum. They hope the land will generate more lease revenue that will help fund ship repairs.
Patriots Point, which doesn’t get state or federal appropriations, has asked Congress for $20 million, funding that so far is not secured. The organization also has an ongoing campaign to raise private donations.
Roberts said the letters sent to ship museums were prompted by the deteriorating condition of the USS Laffey and other ships around the country.
She said the Navy’s legal right to transfer ships that aren’t maintained to Navy standards isn’t news for those museums. That right is written into Navy contracts that accompany ship donations.
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Patriots Point executive director Dick Trammell said the organization has not yet responded to the letter because it was waiting to discuss a response at a recent meeting of the Historic Naval Ships Association. That association is planning to respond for all members, he said.
“We had respectfully chosen not to respond to the letter yet,” he said.
Other ship museums had “strong feelings” about the letters, which seemingly came out of nowhere, Trammell said.
Patriots Point also will respond soon on its own, updating the Navy on its plans, Trammell said.
Though Patriots Point isn’t yet clear when it will have the millions of dollars needed for repairs, one thing is clear, Trammell said: Disposing of the ships is not an option.
Trammell said the deterioration of the ships at Patriots Point has happened over the past 30 years because the state-created organization has not had capital funds to make repairs.
“We are doing the best we can with the money we’ve got,” he said.
He said that while the USS Yorktown and USS Clamagore need repairs, neither is in imminent danger of sinking.
“It is not a crisis,” Trammell said. “The Navy isn’t telling us a bloody thing that we don’t already know.”
Patriots Point has already transferred one of its four ships to another organization. In August, the attraction gave the USS Ingham, a Coast Guard ship, to a museum in Florida because it couldn’t afford repairs.
Reach Ashley Fletcher Frampton at 843-849-3129.
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