Vets want to save Navy ship as museum in Jacksonville

[thelakelander]

Evidently, a proposal to temporarily put the ship at the Shipyards site was rejected earlier this month.

Wayne Misenar remembers his four years aboard the USS Charles F. Adams as being the most memorable as well as the most challenging of his Navy career.

“It was one tribulation after another,” he recalled. “But we worked our way through that. We went from being the worst ship at Mayport to being the best ship three years in a row.”

For the past few years, Misenar and a collection of other Navy vets have been in the midst of an even more challenging struggle as they battle to save the Adams from destruction. Their goal: Turn the guided-missile destroyer in a floating museum on the St. Johns River.

The problem is the group needs both money and a mooring location, each of which seems difficult to get without the other.

Now the Jacksonville Historic Naval Ship Association is trying to push its efforts into high gear, hoping a banquet scheduled for next week  will kick off fundraising while heightening awareness of the project.

“We’re trying to show traction,” said Bert Watson, a lobbyist working with the group. “We’re trying to show we’re serious about this, that we have a very capable game plan.”

full article: http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2009-10-30/story/vets_want_to_save_navy_ship_as_museum_in_jacksonville

[Overstreet]

How about the moorings at the old Southside Generating plant location?

[heights unknown]

Are these Vets currently living in Jacksonville?  If so, and they are reading this forum, they should contact the Vets and Others who head the USS MIDWAY (CV-41) museum in San Diego California. The Midway Museum is definitely a model of tremendous success and should be used as a guage relative to the Charles F. Adams questo to become a Museum.

They (USS MIDAY Museum Group) could possibly help give these Vets precious advice on how to proceed with funding, support, and media exposure for their quest to make the Charles F. Adams into a Museum. By the way, for those of you who don't know, the USS Midway was an Aircraft Carrier built at the end of World War II but had a historic and valiant service with the United States Navy and our nation(almost 50 years) , and was a Sister ship to the USS FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT (CV-42) which was homeported at Mayport for most of her service.

Heights Unknown

[heights unknown]

How about the moorings at the old Southside Generating plant location?

Sounds like a great location to me...smack in the middle of downtown...I can see ferries shuttling people across the river from the Northbank to the museum on the Southbank, and, ridership of the Skyway should also increase with the opening of a Navy Ship Museum.

May not generate as many visitors as say an Aircraft Carrier, but I believe it would be successful.

Would be great if we could get the Saratoga to Jax as a Museum.  She was homeported at Mayport for almost all of her service life.

Heights Unknown

[RiversideLoki]

I have a hard time seeing why the city wouldn't want a ship museum in downtown Jacksonville. I remember when I was younger, going to the Alabama, the Drum, the Laffy, the Mohawk, the Yorktown, etc. They're definitely a draw to the area and a perfect fit with Jacksonville's naval heritage.

I hope we could pull something off like that. I know I'd go.

[Seraphs]

It seems to be a perfect fit for the city.  I think if these guys go about it the right way it'll happen.

[thelakelander]

There is a completely different conversation on this issue at Jacksonville.com

Submitted by John Galt on Sat. 10/31/2009 at 7:22 am

Didn't we try this with the Saratoga around 15 years ago?  What has changed, except that times are tougher?

Submitted by aw_heck on Sat. 10/31/2009 at 9:19 am

I cannot believe the reporter would completely fail to mention the effort to make the Saratoga a floating museum some years back. It failed for the same reason this effort will fail: It is hugely expensive. Also, a lot of people consider a big, rusty gray ship in the middle of downtown an eyesore.

Submitted by Texas Ranger on Sat. 10/31/2009 at 11:05 am

If these guys spend their own money, fine, but don't ask me to pay for a White Elephant.

Submitted by BuzzCreek49 on Sat. 10/31/2009 at 11:55 am

A destroyer is a much smaller ship than a carrier like the Saratoga, yet, such a ship can be nice museum and veteran and education center for some coastal towns. Excellent results have been achieved in Buffalo, NY, Philadelpia, PA and NYC.

Admittedely the "BIG" ships like battleships and carriers are a better draw and the smaller ships are a "side show" in most cases (Charleston, Galveston). Still, a "veteran park" with a destroyer nucleus can add to the mix of downtown attractions.  Once in place the costs are normally managed by volunteer efforts and donations.

The timing is not so good though.  I expect some city support such as the tax breaks given to ball teams would be needed to enact a plan that would add to city revenue in the long term.  Not likely in this crushing economic environment.

Vic Campbell - A Navy Veteran.

Submitted by GA-Rebel on Sat. 10/31/2009 at 11:56 am

make it a reef

http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2009-10-31/story/vets_want_to_save_navy_ship_as_museum_for_jacksonville

[Keith-N-Jax]

Remember where we are--- Jacksonville.

[RiversideLoki]

Remember where we are--- Jacksonville.

"QFT" and "Yee haw".