Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, January 28, 1995 TAG: 9501310029
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium
A lot of people apparently wouldn't mind if a dreadnought cruised up the Elizabeth River, docked beside the National Maritime Center, and stayed there.
A movement of sorts has begun to persuade the city to take one of the four battleships the Navy no longer wants and install it at the downtown waterfront as a tourist attraction.
Portsmouth also is toying with the idea of a teak-decked surplus battlewagon to draw visitors.
``We are doing some very preliminary research in what it would cost and what the benefits would be,'' said Michael Stephens, Portsmouth's director of public affairs.
The theory in Norfolk is that a battleship would help Nauticus, a vaguely aircraft carrier-shaped theme attraction, draw visitors and pay its bills.
``Norfolk is the Navy, and the Navy is Norfolk,'' Daniel Montague, a proponent of the plan, told City Council this week. ``We should get this ship.''
The favored vessel in Norfolk is the Missouri, a battlewagon that ran aground as it was entering Hampton Roads in 1947. In addition, Gen. Douglas MacArthur accepted the Japanese surrender on board the ship in 1945. This would tie in the ship with the MacArthur memorial in Norfolk, supporters say.
The Navy announced recently it is getting rid of the Missouri, along with its three classmates, the Iowa, the Wisconsin and the New Jersey. Now mothballed, the ships cost the Navy $100,000 annually to maintain.
The Navy already has had inquiries from San Francisco and Hawaii about the Missouri, which may be the most coveted because of its historic significance.
Norfolk City Manager James Oliver said a battleship along the waterfront is a long shot because the upkeep costs would be enormous.
by CNB