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Preserve Our Parks
1845 N. Farwell Avenue, Suite 100
Milwaukee, WI 53202
info@preserveourparks.org

SELF-SUPPORTING TOURIST ATTRACTION?

The Heavy Cruiser Des Moines:
Would it be Self-Supporting
or another burden on Taxpayers ?

While a group of local Navy veterans has abandoned plans to dock the USS Des Moines along our downtown lakefront park, the project is by no means dead. Supporters are actively seeking another site.

Here is background on the controversy.

* The USS Des Moines is a 716-foot-long heavy cruiser (that's longer than a city block!). The USS Des Moines project would have brought a clutter of lights, signs, security fencing, parking, trash facilities, roadways and a bus turnaround to the lakefront. New utility lines would have to have been laid in the park. The huge ship would have dominated the park and destroyed it as a recreational resource.

We also have strong reservations about the low funding estimates and absence of a realistic business plan for operating and maintaining the ship as a memorial museum and bed-and-breakfast banquet facility.

* The $20-million initial-cost estimate: We believe it to be woefully small, considering the

renovation necessary for the ship, which has been mothballed in Philadelphia since 1961, charges for towing it to Milwaukee, a required $1.8-million escrow amount for towing back in case the project flops, dredging and disposal of the dredged material, building a breakwater for the ship, modifying the existing seawall for dockage of the behemoth, ongoing maintenance, dry-docking at Sturgeon Bay every decade or so, etc.

* Self-supporting? Think Again! The promoters claim they need 78,000 visitors a year to break even. At $10 a head, that's just what they say they'll pay the top 20 people in their organization! Where's the allowance for maintenance, utilities, supplies, contingencies?

Similar ship/museums around the country are not self-supporting. Check their financial statements (Internal Revenue 990 forms), available at www.guidestar.org. ALL the comparable projects require large donations and in many cases tax money! They ALL require large numbers of people donating their time and energy too!

The promoters are now asking for federal grants to bring the ship here; these grants come from your tax money !

Media Story Link:

Veterans Sink Plan
http://www.jsonline.com/news/metro/feb05/305726.asp

Barret weighs in against docking ship at lakefront
http://jsonline.com/news/metro/feb05/300185.asp

Click the image for a larger view

This is a to-scale sketch of the USS Des Moines as it would appear on Milwaukee's downtown lakefront.
The old Coast Guard station has been added for comparison. The ship is about two football fields long
and it's main superstructure rises six to seven stories high.