USS Arizona Memorial Center Slowly Sinking

AP on Yahoo ^ | 12/11/04 | Jaymes Song - AP

[NormsRevenge]

PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii - The USS Arizona Memorial's visitors center was designed to accommodate 750,000 people a year when it was built in 1980, but today it's jammed with crowds more than twice that big — and it's literally bursting at the seams.

Portions of the shoreside building and plaza commemorating the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor have settled as much as 30 inches and are still slowly sinking, and the concrete structure is cracking.

"Our office space is crammed, our visitor space is crammed, capacity is a significant issue on all fronts," said Douglas Lentz, the National Park Service superintendent in charge of the visitors center. "Then you've got the structural integrity of the building."

Crowds at the memorial have grown over the years as interest in Pearl Harbor has increased, fueled in part by Hollywood's sustained interest in World War II, including a blockbuster movie about the attack. The shock of the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001 drew comparisons to Pearl Harbor and sparked interest among a new generation.

A total of 2,390 people were killed in the Dec. 7, 1941, surprise attack that drew the United States into World War II.

The Pearl Harbor Memorial Fund is working to raise $34 million to replace the visitors center, the starting point for ferry rides across the harbor to the white memorial that straddles the sunken Arizona, which still contains the remains of 1,177 sailors.

The group — whose honorary chairmen include actor Tom Hanks and Sens. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii and John McCain, R-Ariz. — wants to raise enough money to break ground for a new center in three to five years. Mathew Sgan, the fund senior vice president, said the group is very pleased with its progress and is soliciting corporate donations.

The one-story, open-air visitors center building was constructed on fill material that was dredged from Pearl Harbor decades earlier and was expected to settle 18 inches. Its architects even designed in the ability to raise the building using concrete shims.

But it already has been raised four times, causing cracks in the concrete walls that have exposed steel reinforcing rods to moisture.

Last year, engineers gave the building a life expectancy of just five to 10 more years.

Lentz said a new center will be built with lighter materials atop pilings that go deep into the ground to prevent sinking. There is also an option of building it on a floating foundation.

The current museum has 2,500 square feet of space with barely enough room for crowds of visitors to squeeze between the displays, which include a Japanese torpedo recovered from the harbor and a detailed model of the Japanese aircraft carrier from which attack planes were launched.

Preliminary plans for the new center call for 24,000 square feet of space, with more restrooms and a 5,400-square-foot museum to display more artifacts.

As aging Pearl Harbor survivors die, their families often donate historic artifacts and pictures to the museum, but the donations end up in storage because they can't fit in the museum, Sgan said.

"We could never display everything, but if we had a better facility we could display more and we could also rotate things in," Sgan said.

During the peak summer months, the center averages 4,500 visitors daily. Some of them have to wait for two hours to watch a 30-minute film — which includes U.S. and Japanese footage of the attack — and to be ferried out to the monument at the submerged battleship, which still leaks droplets of oil from its tanks.

The National Park Service estimated the memorial will attract 1.6 million visitors this year, up from 1.5 million in 2003.

Rep. Neil Abercrombie (news, bio, voting record), D-Hawaii, said he will push to make funding the project a "major focus" of the House Committee on Resources.

"When this was first put together, nobody had any idea that there was going to be this kind of ongoing response decade after decade," Abercrombie said. "Not only were the intentions good at the beginning, but I think the planning for it was as much as was able to be conceived at the time."

___

On the Net:

USS Arizona Memorial:

http://www.nps.gov/usar

Pearl Harbor Memorial:

http://www.pearlharbormemorial.com

[Publius6961]

The USS Arizona Memorial's visitors center was designed to accommodate 750,000 people a year when it was built in 1980, but today it's jammed with crowds more than twice that big ...

I'd love to see a picture of those 1,500,000 people jammed onto the memorial...

[sinanju]

Is it just my cynical, calcified old imagination, or is the NPS budget up for review? I love the Gettysburg museum too, can my taxes be targeted towards it?

[NormsRevenge]

Arizona Memorial Museum and Visitor Center

Preserving the Memories

Simply stated, the original Museum and Visitor Center must be replaced.

Built in 1980, the USS Arizona Memorial Museum and Visitor Center has played an increasingly important role as the support facility to the USS Arizona Memorial and as a significant part of the visitor experience. The facility consists of an open-air museum and adjoining book store, twin motion-picture theaters for visitor orientation, curatorial and work spaces for National Park Service and Museum Association staff, and visitor food and rest areas. A primary component of the visitor center is the Remembrance Circle, a waterfront memorial to the service men, women and civilians not aboard the USS Arizona who were killed in the Pearl Harbor attack.

Over the years, the facility has experienced tremendous usage from larger-than-expected visitation.

This overwhelming success, unfortunately, has led to visitor overcrowding and insufficient exhibit space. Additionally, the facility suffers from severe deterioration.

We launched this capital improvement project to raise funds to tell the whole story of that fateful day, preserve the precious memories and artifacts of Pearl Harbor, as well as to expand the Museum and Visitor Center's capabilities.

[Always Right]

I'd love to see a picture of those 1,500,000 people jammed onto the memorial...

I've seen over a million people at all those liberal million moms or million men marches and I think a million could fit on a 20' pontoon boat.

[NormsRevenge]

Future Plans

Sixty years ago, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor threw the United States of American into World War Two. The surprise attack changed the course of history, but it also changed the lives of every individual in the U.S. Grandparents still tell their children, grand children, and even great grand children stories of what it was like to live in wartime, fight on foreign shores, and lose friends and family members in the fight for freedom.

Two generations after the start of WWII, these stories are being lost. As the "greatest generation" passes away, so too do their stories, their memories, and their experiences. The future of the USS Arizona Memorial is to be sure that these memories are never forgotten. With the expansion of the Museum and Visitor Center, the USS Arizona Memorial will be able to "tell the rest of the story." What was life like in Hawaii after the attack? What happened to the civilians who were living in Hawaii? What happened on other ships? The USS Oklahoma? The USS Utah? The USS Nevada? These and other ships have stories that need to be told, and the future of the USS Arizona Memorial is to tell these stories better than ever before. The future of the USS Arizona Memorial is to be sure that America remembers and honors those who fought and gave their lives in Hawaii and the Pacific to protect our freedom.

THE SITE PLAN

The Arizona Memorial Museum Association and the National Park Service have been assessing the needs of the Memorial Museum and Visitor Center and exploring ways to creatively solve the problems, while fulfilling the vision of the new facility. Working closely with The Portico Group, an architectural firm based in Seattle, Washington, several facility site-plan concepts were created and presented.

The site plan below is one alternative that is creative and effective—both in terms of cost and in resolving all of the Museum’s structural and visitation issues. The total area of the facility will be approximately 24,000 square feet. The plan is not yet completely final, but it provides us with a blueprint upon which to build our ideas. The new state-of-the-art museum will double the current exhibit capacity and showcase Pearl Harbor survivors’ memorabilia and other artifacts. Here, thousands of visitors each day will comfortably browse new exhibits about Pearl Harbor and the early Pacific War. The museum will use the latest exhibit technology to bring the Pearl Harbor attack and surrounding events to life.

[bushisdamanin04]

I love the Gettysburg museum too, can my taxes be targeted towards it?

I'm still trying to figure out why they got rid of the observation tower at Gettysburg. I thought the "aerial" view really helped in understanding the battle.

[1rudeboy]

USS Arizona Memorial Center Slowly Sinking

Well, that's ironic.

[Nick Danger]

Watch some doofus in the purchasing department award the contract to fix it to a Japanese firm.

[Publius6961]

All right. Seriously is there a version of that drawing people can actually read?
I am sure that there must be a handout to visitors with a map explaining what and where everything is. I would love to see it if someone can be kind enough to scan and post it.
I have been to Hawaii exactly twice. Once in transit to American Samoa, and once spending a month-long vacation, mostly on the Big Island.

To my regret, a visit to the memorial was not part of my experience.
Wouldn't it be wonderful if the memorial could be repaired and upgraded by voluntary donations from those of us who cherish, respect and value the sacrifice those "old fashioned" patriots made?
For some reason, I can't picture Michael Moore or Alec Baldwin or Barbra Streisand writing a check to help...

[NormsRevenge]

Oops. I posted what the site had available for the new center even tho' it is a bit blurred.

The Pearl Harbor Memorial web site does have some photos of the existing center and grounds.

The Portico Group (architectural firm doing initial project exploratory work) didn't have a better image unfortunately.

I love the Big Island myself too. Kona side.. :)

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Suggest transferring the portion of my tax money now going to PBS.

[bjs1779]

Here is the reason I can never say anything bad about Elvis Presley:

----------------------------------------------------

"Over more than 20 years there was much discussion and controversy as various monuments were planned to honor the men who died at the attack on Pearl Harbor. One of the most moving would become the memorial for the USS Arizona."

"In 1949 the Pacific War Memorial Commision was created. One of its goals became the building of a memorial in the waters above the wreckage of the USS Arizona. After nearly a decade the commision was finally able to begin construction of the memorial, realising their only problem was raising the money to build it."

"That's where the Colonel, Tom Parker, jumped on the bandwagon by offering the commision his help by staging an Elvis concert as a benefit for the project."

"Elvis' benefit would raise nearly $ 65.000 for the memorial building fund. All proceeds went directly to the project, without anything held for expenses. Even the Colonel and Elvis had to buy a ticket to get into the show !!".

"In 1962 the memorial was finished and was dedicated on Memorial Day. Since then, the USS Arizona Memorial has become one of the most visited sites in Hawaii."

"To Elvis it was always a source of quiet satisfaction and pride to know that he had a significant role in making the memorial possible."

http://www.elvisinhawaii.com/1961_memorial.htm

[Tallguy]

I liked the Gettysburg Observation Tower too, and for the same reasons. My understanding is that the tower originally stood on private land, and that the land was eventually purchased and incorporated into the Park. It fell victim to its own age and the Battlefield Commissions desire to restore the field to its original 'Look'. Eventually, all the tree lines and fields are going to be brought back so that the Tour Guides don't have to say, "now in 1863 this open field was a wood lot...".

[bushisdamanin04]

Yeah, I had heard that also. But the fact is, Gettysburg is so very different than what it was back then that they can never really "restore" it. Next, someone will want to remove the thousands of monuments.

[Wild Irish Rogue]

" Watch some doofus in the purchasing department award the contract to fix it to a Japanese firm."

When we took the shuttle boat over to the USS Arizona, my wife and I were the only non Japanese tourists aboard. Talk about surreal.

[Nick Danger]

When we took the shuttle boat over to the USS Arizona, my wife and I were the only non Japanese tourists aboard. Talk about surreal.

Try the "peace museum" in Nagasaki. Nothing like being the only 6'3 Amerikajin in the room.

[Colt .45]

I know exactly what you mean. I have been to the Memorial eight times. Everytime we pulled in at Pearl Harbor, I went to pay my respects to my "brothers" who still lie entombed on her. The last time I was there the Memorial was crowded with Japs and to see them smiling and laughing in that sacred place provoked anger in me. It would be like me laughing at a place like Hiroshima. They smile and laugh real good until you remind them of where the Atomic Bombs were field tested at.

[cyborg]

Tourists... they don't always know better.