THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, October 11, 1996 TAG: 9610110495
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY NAOMI AOKI, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: 128 lines
City and Nauticus officials on Thursday announced a four-month exhibit based on a recent expedition to the famed ocean liner Titanic that they hope will put the maritime center on the map.
The exhibit will offer the first glimpse of a larger traveling exhibit - a glimpse that officials hope will bring thousands of people and millions of dollars into the region.
``This is a landmark day for Nauticus and for the people of Hampton Roads,'' Nauticus President David T. Guernsey said during a news conference announcing the exhibit.
``Titanic: The expedition,'' which opens Nov. 27 and runs through the end of March, will focus on a salvage mission conducted by a crew of 100 this summer. The exhibit will include dramatic film footage, still photographs and equipment from the monthlong expedition.
It also will showcase for the first time artifacts recovered during the August expedition, including a Marconi telegraph, a ship's whistle, a silver soup tureen dented as it sank 2 1/2 miles to the ocean floor, and pieces of hull plating.
From Nauticus, the exhibit will travel to Memphis to become part of a $5 million exhibit that will travel worldwide.
``We have an opportunity today to celebrate the true meaning of what Nauticus is all about - an opportunity to share and enjoy the maritime knowledge here, in this nation and in this world,'' said George Tulloch, who heads the group that conducted the expedition.
Officials hope the exhibit will draw between 150,000 and 250,000 people from around the region and the nation. Between ticket sales - prices range from $9.95 to $12.95 and include Nauticus - and the money visitors spend at local shops, restaurants and hotels, officials expect the event to bring the city millions of dollars in revenue.
The city plans to spend $300,000 designing and building the exhibit and $200,000 promoting it. The money will come from funds already allocated to the Virginia Waterfront Campaign, a program that promotes tourism in Hampton Roads and is supported by meal, hotel and admissions taxes.
``We hope to recoup some, if not all, of that money through ticket sales,'' said Sam Rogers, city marketing director. ``Irrespective of that, the goal of the campaign is to bring visitors into the region. To have something like the Titanic during a season that is traditionally slow is a real boon.''
For Marie Aks, 82, of Norfolk, the exhibit is also a sentimental journey into her husband's past. Frank Philip Aks, who died in July 1991, was a Titanic survivor. He was only 10 months old when the ship sank.
``I am moved by it,'' Aks said after Thursday's news conference. ``Some of the artifacts came from steerage. My husband and my mother-in-law could have eaten from one of those bowls. It's very touching to me.''
The Titanic, the largest ocean liner of its time, sank on its maiden voyage after hitting an iceberg in the North Atlantic on April 15, 1912. About 1,500 passengers and crew members were killed.
The wreck was discovered in 1985. Since then, Tulloch has fought off a film producer, a Memphis treasure hunter and a Texas oilman for exclusive rights to the Titanic. A Norfolk federal judge in May reaffirmed that RMS Titanic - Tulloch's company - has sole salvage rights to the ship.
As successful as the August expedition was, Tulloch said it failed in what many considered its main goal: to raise a section of the Titanic to the surface for eventual display on land.
Most disappointing was that Tulloch almost did it. On Aug. 30, a 20-ton section of two first-class cabins was raised to within 200 feet of the surface, having been floated from the ocean floor by balloons filled with fuel.
Then support lines began snapping in rough seas. As Tulloch and his team watched in horror, the section sank again.
In April, the exhibit will travel to Memphis. With more than 300 objects and 60,000 square feet of gallery space, the Memphis show will be the largest-ever exhibition of Titanic artifacts and will include an 18-foot replica of the ship.
Organizers expect the exhibit to draw about 750,000 people in Memphis. The exhibit will run from April 3 to Sept. 30, 1997. From Memphis, it will travel to several other cities. Before the tour is over, more than 3 million people will see the Titanic exhibit, officials said.
Tulloch hopes that revenues from Nauticus' exhibit and worldwide tour to follow will help fund another expedition. But first, he has to pay off about $9 million in expenses from the August expedition. Tulloch said he will get about one-third of the revenue from the Nauticus exhibit.
During Tulloch's previous expeditions to the Titanic site, he has raised more than 3,600 artifacts. Those items were displayed at the National Maritime Museum in England in 1994 and 1995, breaking attendance records. About 750,000 people visited that exhibition.
Tulloch's efforts have been criticized for being crassly commercial. For example, chunks of coal from the site have been sold as souvenirs, and sightseers booked passages on cruise ships to the site of the Titanic expedition, ostensibly to help finance the historical and scientific research.
``It is an issue that they have a basis of concern about, but I don't think we've crossed the line,'' Tulloch said Thursday defending his actions. ``What crosses that line is if that's the reason you do it.''
Visitors to Nauticus will be able to buy chunks of coal from the Titanic. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
MARTIN SMITH-RODDEN/The Virginian-Pilot
Officials for the city of Norfolk and Nauticus hope the exhibit of
artifacts recovered from the Titanic will be a boon for tourism,
attendance and revenue.
Graphic
TITANIC: THE EXPEDITION
Where: at Nauticus, One Waterside Drive
When: Nov. 27 to March 31; hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday
through Sunday. How much: Tickets are $12.95 for adults; $11.95 for
seniors and military; $9.95 for children ages 6-17; free for
children under 6 who are with a paying adult. Tickets are available
at any TicketMaster location or by calling 671-8100.
Photo
TAMARA VONINSKI/The Virginian-Pilot
George Tulloch, who heads RMS Titanic, the group that conducted the
Titanic expedition in August, hopes that revenue from Nauticus'
exhibit and the subsequent worldwide tour will help fund another
expedition. by CNB