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They are making good progress on the longer-term redevelopement plan but they need funds to help cover the immediate costs for dockage, maintenance, security, etc.
http://www.phillyburbs.com/ap/state/pa/ap-historic-ship-in-philly-short-on-funds-time/article_31936f7a-353f-506e-9d52-daa7aac3b8e8.html#.UVA9SwHU_e8.email
Spread the word and help save our ship!
http://www.savetheunitedstates.org
Is all of the $5.8 million gone? If so, how was it spent?
[ 03-25-2013: Message edited by: joe at travelpage ]
someone is probably stuffin there pockets as well?
quote:Originally posted by joe at travelpage:Is all of the $5.8 million gone? If so, how was it spent?[ 03-25-2013: Message edited by: joe at travelpage ]
Part of it was spent buying the ship from NCL, the remainder spent on dockage fees.
The Conservancy has made excellent progress in that they acquired the ship and have developed plans for productive re-use. They are identifying candidates to partner with to develop the ship and in the meantime have done an excellent job of drawing attention to the plight of the ship which was largely forgotten.
However all of this takes time and more importantly money. A large part of the original donation went to the purchase of the ship itself. On top of that the Conservancy pays not only monthly dockage but also insurance, maintenance, etc. in addition to the costs of developing their plan and actively marketing to partners.
The Conservancy is also making progress with a long term plan to finance the redevelopment but the challenge is short term to pay the monthly carrying costs until the long term plans can be completed and a partner comes aboard for the redevelopment.
To have come this far and lose the ship now would be a terrible loss to all the ship lovers worldwide and to the history of this era of passenger shipping. If we lose the s/s United States there clearly will never be another ship like her and a key link to history will be lost as well.
The ' RMS Queen Mary ' still has a large amount of her interior in place as will the Queen Elizabeth 2, when converted, and both have accommodation available.
It seems a lot more money will be needed to fit out the ' United States ' and make her just a tourist attraction !
.
Part of the ship will be a museum and work space dedicated to design and technology. There will be a museum of course but they also envision a new hotel, function space, and other uses. For example one of the concepts incorporates here into a land-based casino operation. They also expect retail and commercial space on board.
Fortunately and unfortunately the interiors were stripped long ago. The positive is it removes the asbestos hurdles the Rotterdam had to overcome and means the interiors are open and ready for a creative designer. Of course it means the original 1950s fittings are no longer there but that can be overcome with reconstruction and modern interpretations.
The Queen Mary of course has most of her lounges, no original furniture though, and only less than three of her cabin decks and most of them have had to be modernized to make them sellable in the modern era. Large parts of the Queen Mary's lower decks are still nothing more than gutted shell.
On the United States her machinery is intact and would be a basis of a display like the Queen Mary.
Th exterior alone with the tower red white and blue funnels makes a strong statement as does the sleekness of her hull lines.
It is very true that none of these ships have been economically viable just as a tourist attraction with the possible exception of the Japanese Hiakawa Maru but she is heavily supported by Japanese corporations.
ss United States is a hulk imho I do not see anything of a future for her myself, nor consider any history lost if she goes; that is already in the books and any ephemera/memorabilia spread around the world. Years and talks and wasted pennies will be followed by more of the same.
I appreciate many others have different thoughts
Pam
Granted a lot was lost from the prior owners efforts to prepare her for a future but as I said it is a blank canvas for a creative mind.
The exterior alone though provides such a unique experience that I think it is worth saving.
I gather have her than another toaster oven or high rise building in China made from her.
If everyone gave $25 (less than the price of one book on her) think how far it would go to her future.
Yesterday alone we have over 2000 people look at the one news article. That alone would have paid a month's worth of her bills.
An improvement in her appearence might then have attracted more investors.
Even passenger ships arriving to be scrapped at Alang appear in better condition than the ' United States' appears at present !
quote:Originally posted by Neil - Ex P. & O. S. N. Company.:It is a great pity that both the funnels and the hull on the ' United States ' had not been re-painted when they had the gift of US $ 5.8 million..
Neil, the paint on that ship contain's lead. scraping, sandblasting, and building the rigging to paint is the easy part. The Hazmat suits, insurance, environmental compliance of the undertaking would have sucked up the $5.8m that is used for the $80,000 a month docking fees, insurance, security, and keeping the ropes that hold her in the berth maintained.
This is not an old Skoda you can put in a barn upon blocks with the battery cable disconnected.
The paint on the Queen Mary also contained lead but they manage to keep her looking decent !
Being the part owner of a commecial decorating company removing or covering old paint is not the problem some people make out.
We re-painted a big school building last year which had metal crittal windows with no problems although the original oil based paint, which contained lead, had been on for about 15 years !
We have been doing this sort of work in the UK for the past 20 years !.
The Conservancy is well aware of the paint issues on the United States and has explored the idea of working on the exterior but prefers to devote all its efforts on the total plan right now. Ultimately the United States will be dry docked where in controlled conditions her hull will be properly sandblasted and repainted as will the funnels.
They are actually in pretty good condition if you consider they have not seen a painter since 1969!
Half the people reading this message may not have even been alive the last time a painter worked on the Big U!
like you, I have spent the better part of my life watching the Big U, hoping and waiting. This ship has led a truly charmed life having evaded the scrapper's torch for 40+ years and having had so many different owners try to bring her back to life. And the current owners' efforts are valiant and have drawn lots of visibility.
That said, I have been skeptical of any efforts to turn her into a static attraction. When you look at all the museum ships around the world, they are floating financial sinkholes.
And while the conservancy asserts they are making or have made progress, there has been nothing I have seen that quantifies the progress.
All of the statements and plans seem rather vague to me and frankly, I don't foresee anyone stepping forward with the several hundred million dollars that would be needed. I hope I am wrong though.
My two cents.
Tim
quote:Originally posted by SSTRAVELER:It is not a question of how many times, it is an ongoing effort to preserve one of the last examples of the Atlantic liner and a record holder.
Oh I'd love to see her preserved, but she just stumbles form one stay of execution to the next.
It's cruel.
Off course she will never be what she was but neither is the Rotterdam or the Queen Mary or the QE2. But if the United States goes to scrap the experience of walking her decks, her promenades, seeing those towering funnels will be lost. A picture is ok but it simply is not the same as experiencing it first hand. Not to mention the technology below decks that made her the fastest liner.
The Titanic is only remembered because of a major blunder and arrogance on the part of her owners and officers.
And if we keep going, the Washington Monument in Washington DC cracked in the earthquake ... so take it down. The Albert Memorial in London was neglected ... so take it down.
The hole in the ozone over the South Pole ... well nothing lasts forever!
quote:Originally posted by Tim in Memphis:That said, I have been skeptical of any efforts to turn her into a static attraction. When you look at all the museum ships around the world, they are floating financial sinkholes. Tim
That said, I have been skeptical of any efforts to turn her into a static attraction. When you look at all the museum ships around the world, they are floating financial sinkholes. Tim
Absolutely
Which is why they have to be run by charitable foundations who know what they are doing.
Most museums and entities of culture, PBS, that are not profitable survive that way. The cash generated by admissions, events, hospitality functions essentially stem the losses, but other funding from many individuals, multi-millionaires, charitable foundations, and billionaires is needed.
Fundraising, non-profits, and running entities like PBS, museums, historic sites, etc, is a profession in itself.
quote:Originally posted by Tim in Memphis:That said, I have been skeptical of any efforts to turn her into a static attraction. When you look at all the museum ships around the world, they are floating financial sinkholes.
That's because so far just about everyone has failed to come up with a truly creative re-use plan. Mostly people think all they have to do is dock the ship and people will flock to it simply to see it. The Intrepid in New York might be one of the few exceptions but even they have done a lot to keep their exhibits fresh and been successful with calling card items like a Concorde and now a Space Shuttle.
In the United States we have stuck former battleships in various ports and assumed that makes them a viable attraction that can support itself. Does not work.
The Rotterdam is likely one of the best examples of reuse whereas they created a modern hotel within the confines of the ship but totally rebuilt the cabins with only the spirit of the former ship. The lounges were mostly reconstruction but the theatre was turned into a convention space leveling the floor and removing the fixed seating. The dining rooms also lost their fixed tables to create greater flexibility. The former tourist class lounge is now a restaurant and all of the rooms serve primarily for the functions and now as a museum.
The idea calls for incorporating the United States into other spaces such as a shore side casino or other attraction, creating a hotel aboard and then other commercial attractions such as retail, convention or exhibit space and alike. The Museum will only be a small part of what is on board.
Its only this type of creative reuse that makes sense and which has any hope of being economically sound. I agree just to try and recreate what was and hope people will flock to it as a static attraction is silly. Let's face it their are not enough ship lovers to support that proposition but if she is part of something bigger she can and will survive for not only ship lovers but a whole new generation to appreciate what was.
As I said before if everyone who pays $25 for a book (or $50) sent that amount to the Conservancy we would not be having this discussion and instead of looking at a picture and trying to imagine the ship we could all be strolling down the deck under those tower red white and blue funnels.
An engineer who has been aboard tells me the steel is solid as is the aluminum in key areas such as the joint.
But thanks for the effort it will help scrape off some of the surface rust.
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