Group fights to preserves historic ship’s legacy
A lawsuit is trying to evict the SS United States, from its current resting place in Philadelphia. Video provided by Joe Warner/Special to Delaware News Journal. 5/13/23
Damian Giletto, Delaware News Journal
The historic SS United States has been evicted from its Philadelphia moorage on the Delaware River, required to leave by Sept. 12But the ship has nowhere to go, after its stewards reached out to 40 ports and the U.S. NavyTwo counties in Florida are now competing to sink “America’s Flagship” as the world’s longest artifical reef
The hulking SS United States, perched immobile on the Delaware River for the past 28 years, has set a lot of records in her day.
The 50,000-ton vessel is the largest ocean liner built in the United States and the last to still float, a marvel of engineering upon its 1952 maiden voyage, designed to be “unsinkable” by South Philly native William Francis Gibbs.
The onetime “America’s Flagship” is also the fastest wave-smasher there ever was, holder of a two-way transatlantic speed record that stands to this day. Marilyn Monroe, Walt Disney and John Wayne crossed the Atlantic on her decks – and so did four United States Presidents.
Now the 990-foot-long ship may may set a new record, one its stewards perhaps never asked for: world’s longest artificial reef.
As of Sept. 12, the historic ship is officially homeless – ordered by a judge to leave its longtime roost at Port of Philadelphia’s Pier 82, after a years-long rent and moorage dispute with landlords Penn Warehousing that landed in federal court. No other port has agreed to take her, not even temporarily.
And so America’s Flagship may instead be sunk beneath the sea.
Two Florida counties are now locked in a race to gain rights to scuttle the onetime “Speed Queen of the Seas” off the Gulf Coast, and turn the onetime luxury vessel into an undersea attraction – meant to lure in tourism dollars from scuba divers who’d like to rubberneck at an intentional shipwreck.
So how did we get here? And where will the onetime Speed Queen of the Seas come to rest? Here’s what we know.
The SS United States has reached its eviction date, but has announced no solid plans
The SS United States Conservancy, the ship’s owners and stewards, have not yet announced a final deal securing the disposition of the historic vessel – which now sits in perilous limbo.
Its Philadelphia moorage was never meant to be permanent. For decades, the SS United States Conservancy has been devoted to finding a home for the historic vessel as a floating museum, restaurant, entertainment complex or all of the above. For just as long, those plans have remained expensive and out of reach.
But the ships owners will have to do something soon. In June, a federal judge ordered the ship to leave by Sept. 12, in an eviction case perhaps unique in the country. Last month, the judge denied a continuance that would have postponed this date, but gave the Conservancy a bit more wiggle room to make plans.
Now, this deadline has arrived.
The ship’s landlords, pier operator Penn Warehousing, have said they plan to charge the SS United States $3 million if it outstays its welcome – the amount the pier’s operator says they could potentially earn if they close a deal to import Hyundais through the pier. If imposed, that’s a fee that could again land the ship right back in federal court.
Penn Warehousing alleges in court documents that the Conservancy is not trying in good faith to leave, an assertion the Conservancy disputes. In legal filings Sept. 11, the Conservancy instead accused Penn Warehousing of its own bad faith tactics, and said the port interfered with deals to move the ship. The Conservancy asked for an extension until December 5 to finalize its plans.
As evidence of its good faith, the Conservancy has published a list of 40 ports – including nearby Wilmington, Delaware – that they’ve tried to petition as temporary moorage.
“The ship is the largest passenger vessel built in her namesake nation at nearly 1,000 feet long and a present draft of up to 28 feet,” wrote Conservancy spokespeople this month. “That means piers large enough to accommodate her are extremely limited. Nor is it possible to temporarily moor her at sea because she is lacking key equipment and such a plan would not be permitted by the Coast Guard.”
At least two suitors seem to be serious about wanting to house the ship permanently. Both are in Florida. And both want to sink it.
Two Florida counties race for the rights to sink the United States
For months, Okaloosa and Escambia counties in Florida have negotiated with the SS United States’ stewards for the rights to turn the ship into a scuba-diving attraction.
On Sept. 3, the five-commissioner board of the panhandle Florida county of Okaloosa were scheduled to vote to approve $9 million in funding for a contingent deal with the SS United States Conservancy to purchase the ship, tow her to the shores of Destin-Fort Walton Beach, and then sink her off its shores.
On land, the county would create a museum devoted to the majesty of a ship that would be viewable only underwater. If sunk, the 990-foot vessel would become the world’s longest artificial reef.
That news was met with dismay in nearby Pensacola, whose coastline is the current home to the world’s longest artificial reef: The sunken USS Oriskany is a spritely 888 feet long. Some in Pensacola’s Escambia County feared that if Fort Walton Beach got a longer reef, Pensacola tourism could suffer.
“It’s hard to imagine us not feeling a little slide backwards now that the larger reef is going to be down the road, “the county’s marine advisory board chair told commissioners in late August. “I feel sorry for our charter boat captains, but once again, maybe we can just hurry up and get something else that’s of that size and get people to come back over here.”
Escambia caught a break, however, when Okaloosa County was forced to delay its vote, citing a “wrinkle.” Okaloosa County would not comment on the nature of the wrinkle, but court documents and statements this week from the Conservancy allege that Penn Warehousing demanded millions of dollars from Okaloosa County. (Lawyers for Penn gave somewhat guarded denials to the Philadelphia Inquirer this month.)
but the delay of at least two weeks gave Escambia the window it needed to push for funding.
On Sept. 5, Escambia County’s board of commissioners approved a fundraising effort to put together the millions it would need to put together a serious offer – a race to raise millions in sponsorships on tight deadlines. As of that meeting, the county had already amassed $5.5 million toward the cause of scuttling the United States and adding it to Pensacola’s collection of underwater attractions.
Okaloosa, meanwhile, has its own collection of underwater assets to lure scuba divers, including a collection of underwater columns leading out toward the Gulf.
Consider it, if you will, a race to the bottom.
SS United States supporters still hope to head off sinking the ship
Even as two Florida counties fight to secure a deal that will net them potential millions in tourist revenues, the SS United States Conservancy signaled in early September it was hoping for a 13th-hour solution that’ll avoid that fate.
The Conservancy’s primary goal remains a “a dynamic stationary, mixed-use destination,” Conservancy spokespeople wrote this summer after reefing plans first surfaced. In a statement this month to donors in early September, the nonprofit wrote that it was still “urgently” seeking other temporary or permanent moorage.
“The Conservancy has reached out to political leaders at the local, state and federal levels, contacted regional port authorities, maritime associations, private pier owners, and the highest levels of U.S. Navy,” according to the satatement. However, vacancies of this size are apparently hard to come by.
In the meantime, the Conservancy is pursuing reefing as the least objectionable version of failure. Sponsors, donors and nautical fans on the Conservancy’s Instagram account have been critical of any plans to turn the ship into a reef.
“Sinking is not preserving,” wrote one.
“Time to start praying, if you’re not already,” wrote another. Others posited that reefing, with a museum on land, was a far more dignified fate than the scrapyard.
But even reefing poses a number of obstacles, according to the Conservancy.
The Conservancy’s deal with Okaloosa County, by far the farthest along of any proposal, is still contingent on a number of outcomes. Not only must the Okaloosa County board of commissioners ratify the deal, but federal authorities and port operators must agree to a plan and timeline for the ship’s transport from Philadelphia to the Gulf Coast.
Okaloosa’s Board of Commissioners will meet again September 17, five days after the deadline for the SS United States to make solid departure plans. Escambia is next scheduled to meet on September 19.
Until then, perhaps, SS United States remains as unsinkable as ever.
Matthew Korfhage is business and development reporter in the Delaware region covering all things related to land and money: openings and closings, construction, and the many corporations who call the First State home. Send tips and insults to [email protected].
Source link : http://www.bing.com/news/apiclick.aspx?ref=FexRss&aid=&tid=66e30d0e2a1a42308c06c104bc991f66&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.freep.com%2Fstory%2Fnews%2F2024%2F09%2F12%2Fflorida-counties-race-to-sink-historic-ss-united-states-as-reef%2F75171926007%2F&c=10451420095002365985&mkt=en-us
Author :
Publish date : 2024-09-11 12:59:00
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.
