Not on board: Petition created to keep SS United States from becoming reef
A petition created by the New York Coalition to save the ship has received over 7,000 signatures
MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) - While some are on board with the SS United States becoming an artificial reef, others are desperately trying to keep her afloat.
A petition created by the New York Coalition to save the ship has received over 7,000 signatures.
Along with filing a federal complaint, they also sent a letter to the president of the United States, urging him to take executive action and allow the U.S. to purchase the ship for public use.
The coalition argues sinking the ship not only destroys historical artifacts, but claims the SS United States is protected under the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966. They also raise concerns over possible underwater corrosion to the ship that could create hazards for divers and the presence of PCBs that could have negative impacts on Florida’s coast.
In 2011, the SS United States Conservancy purchased the ship with a similar goal, to preserve the historic vessel.
“Ever since that point, we looked to permanently develop this ship to move it to a pier where she could be permanently redeveloped,” said Warren Jones. “We had all kinds of proposals over the years but had not been able to get everything completely launched.”
Warren Jones is on the board of directors for the SS United States Conservancy and said they faced some road blocks trying to keep her afloat.
“Our pier operator in Philadelphia Penthouse Warehousing wanted us to leave the pier and they doubled the rent and they moved to evict us from the pier,” he said.
Jones said a lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court in Philadelphia where the judge required the ship leave the pier within 90 days.
“We were simply up against court enforced deadlines and had to be off the pier in 90 days,” Jones said. “We were stuck with a choice; do we scrap this great ship or do we reef her? Not choices we ever wanted to have, but we thought the dignified approach was to reef the ship.”
Jones said that’s when Okaloosa County came forward and purchased the ship for $1,000,000.
“We fought the good fight and I think the folks at Okaloosa understand, again, the passion that we have for this ship and want to continue her legacy which we will do in a museum that’s being planned,” he said.
Jones said the conservancy is still in the early stages of planning and will continue to discuss potential sites for the museum for Okaloosa County. The project is expected to be underway this year.
An Okaloosa County spokesman said they’re aware of the petition, but still plan to fully deploy the ship as an artificial reef.
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