USS Narwhal may be first decommissioned nuclear sub to be put on display

Since 03-21-04

From NSL Update 02-06-04

$25M effort launched to get sub

By Stephenie Steitzer, The Kentucky Post, 04 Feb 04

Officials trying to bring a decommissioned nuclear submarine to the banks of Newport have begun the daunting task of raising $25 million for the project.

They've also enlisted the voice of Capt. Frank Ramsey from "Crimson Tide."

Academy Award-winning actor Gene Hackman has just finished narrating an eight-minute promotional video for the National Submarine Science Discovery Center, the non-profit group established to bring the USS Narwhal to Northern Kentucky.

The video, called "Bringing Science to Life," which Hackman, a Marine Corps veteran, narrated as a donation to the project, will be used to promote the effort to potential donors.

"We are quietly getting in front of regional leaders to talk about the project," center executive director Tom Schram said.

The submarine, which is expected to generate $20 million annually for the region, is scheduled to open in 2007. The total cost of the project is about $60 million.

The center needs to raise $25 million to design and build the barge to transport the 35-year-old ship from Seattle, to design and build the discovery center and to design and build the berth.

The center will eventually undertake a public fundraising campaign, Schram said.

The submarine, which was crucial to the Navy's fleet during the Cold War, will take up residence just west of the Newport on the Levee, directly across the Ohio River from the Great American Ball Park.

The city of Newport has donated prime riverfront space for the project. The discovery center is also part of the Southbank Partners' Riverfront Commons project, which aims to beef up the banks of Northern Kentucky's river cities.

The Navy will remove all nuclear and propulsion elements from the 314-foot-long Narwhal before it begins its two-to-three month journey to Northern Kentucky.

Schram said the submarine would travel on a specially designed barge down the Pacific Coast through the Panama Canal to the Gulf of Mexico and then up the Mississippi River to the Ohio.

"You've got to dream big sometimes," said the center's chairman, Jack Moreland, who is also superintendent of the Covington Independent School District.

Moreland said the task of raising $25 million is daunting but worth it.

The center will not only serve as a museum, but it will be an education center that will target fourth-, fifth- and sixth-graders. He said part of the project's mission is to increase interest in science and technology among young people.

"How many people in their lifetime get an opportunity to go aboard a nuclear submarine?" he asked. "It's nonexistent."

The USS Narwhal would be the first modern-era ship the Navy has ever donated to a non-military entity. The Navy itself maintains one decommissioned sub for public display in Groton, Conn. There are 20 other decommissioned subs across the country, but all of them date from World War II.

President George Bush signed legislation in September 2003 that guarantees that the Narwhal will be reserved for donation only to the discovery center.

The sub will join the ranks of several other recent tourist attractions to open in the region. In Northern Kentucky, the Kentucky Speedway opened in 2000 in Gallatin County and generates about $18 million annually for the area.

The Newport Aquarium, which generates about $100 million per year for the region, opened in 1999. Newport also touts the World Peace Bell, Newport on the Levee and Hofbrauhaus.

"We're slowly building a nice mix of attractions, and it really makes Newport the entertainment and tourist destination in the state, or at least in the top two or three," Newport city manager Phil Ciafardini said.

Campbell, Boone and Kenton counties generated $593.7 million in tourism revenue in 2002. That was a $44 million increase from the previous year.

In Cincinnati, the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center is slated to open across the river from the sub site this summer. It is expected to generate between $10 million and $12 million per year for the region.