Better location or not?

74OA said:

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Better location or not?

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More foot traffic for sure.

It will be next to the Elissa.

Have they said or does anyone know what the dry dock repair timeline is at this point? Is it based on the money available and what work they can continue to do? Just curious when they plan to begin moving her to a permanent location.

The battleship should stay next to the San Jacinto Monument

Bregxit said:

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docb said:

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The battleship should stay next to the San Jacinto Monument

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Why? It will never get the visitation needed to keep it maintained there.

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I guess not. Maybe it's just nostalgia for me growing up in Baytown. Go to the Monument Inn to eat and visit the battleship and the monument. Plus you get to see all the big ships in the channel and realize what the business in Houston is about. Now it's going to be next to a bunch of trinket shops.

I took my son several years ago out there after we spent the morning at NASA. Trip down memory lane for me having grown up in Dickinson, the pearl of Galveston County.

He has been sort of obsessed with it since and I look forward to it being in Galveston and available to other youth to visit and learn the history.

Not only will visitation exponentially increase, but I think they wind up with lots of merch to be sold in those trinket shops on the strand and hopefully result in funds to keep her maintained.

Between the railroad museum, the Strand, Elyssa, and the offshore drilling museum there is a fair amount for people to take in in that area. Its a shame Col Bubbies is not longer around.

docb said:

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I always thought it was fitting to have the battleship with our state's name next to the decisive battle for Texas independence. It was a show of power to what we have become. Sad that we have to rely on ticket sales to aid in maintenance of the ship.

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how do you propose they take care of it? On wishes and nastalgia?

It was always a bad location. There is nothing else but the monument and a bunch of oil refineries out there.

agracer said:

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docb said:

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I always thought it was fitting to have the battleship with our state's name next to the decisive battle for Texas independence. It was a show of power to what we have become. Sad that we have to rely on ticket sales to aid in maintenance of the ship.

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how do you propose they take care of it? On wishes and nastalgia?

It was always a bad location. There is nothing else but the monument and a bunch of oil refineries out there.

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Should we move the monument too? That's where the freaking decisive battle to win Texas was! I'm sorry there isn't enough there to keep your ADD occupied. 70 million can be spent to fire a football coach. That's twice as much as the current restoration. I think there is plenty of money around to fund a ship if the desire is there.

docb said:

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agracer said:

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docb said:

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I always thought it was fitting to have the battleship with our state's name next to the decisive battle for Texas independence. It was a show of power to what we have become. Sad that we have to rely on ticket sales to aid in maintenance of the ship.

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how do you propose they take care of it? On wishes and nastalgia?

It was always a bad location. There is nothing else but the monument and a bunch of oil refineries out there.

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Should we move the monument too? That's where the freaking decisive battle to win Texas was! I'm sorry there isn't enough there to keep your ADD occupied. 70 million can be spent to fire a football coach. That twice as much as the current restoration. I think there is plenty of money around to fund a ship if the desire is there.

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Well by all means get out there and find the money and convince them to leave in the middle of nowhere where no one will come to see it and in 20 years it will be in the same poor condition it was last year and we'll be asking the same questions again.

Keeping it in Galveston means more visitors, means more young people are exposed to history means more money to keep it going for future generations.

FTR, I agree Jimbos contract was an outrageous move from the get go, the extension was just doubling down on stupid. But it's a Billion dollar industry, and if you watched any football this season you're as much a part of the problem as the next guy.

And take your ADD projection and shove it. I've been to dozens of WW2 museum ships, monuments, museums and have a ton of books.

agracer said:

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docb said:

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agracer said:

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docb said:

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I always thought it was fitting to have the battleship with our state's name next to the decisive battle for Texas independence. It was a show of power to what we have become. Sad that we have to rely on ticket sales to aid in maintenance of the ship.

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how do you propose they take care of it? On wishes and nastalgia?

It was always a bad location. There is nothing else but the monument and a bunch of oil refineries out there.

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Should we move the monument too? That's where the freaking decisive battle to win Texas was! I'm sorry there isn't enough there to keep your ADD occupied. 70 million can be spent to fire a football coach. That twice as much as the current restoration. I think there is plenty of money around to fund a ship if the desire is there.

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Well by all means get out there and find the money and convince them to leave in the middle of nowhere where no one will come to see it and in 20 years it will be in the same poor condition it was last year and we'll be asking the same questions again.

Keeping it in Galveston means more visitors, means more young people are exposed to history means more money to keep it going for future generations.

FTR, I agree Jimbos contract was an outrageous move from the get go, the extension was just doubling down on stupid. But it's a Billion dollar industry, and if you watched any football this season you're as much a part of the problem as the next guy.

And take your ADD projection and shove it. I've been to dozens of WW2 museum ships, monuments, museums and have a ton of books.

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Good for you. But you still don't know how to spell nostalgia.

LMCane said:

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BQ_90 said:

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fka ftc said:

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DrEvazanPhD said:

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74OA said:

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DrEvazanPhD said:

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tree91 said:

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For those who have taken the tour, do you get to go on the ship, or is it just a walk around the hull? Is it worth a special trip to Galveston to do it?

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They take you around the hull, but not on the ship proper. It was 100% worth it

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Was that because the ship was unsafe before the renovation? I'd think being allowed to actually go on board would be a major motivator for more people to visit.

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there will be plenty of time after the construction is done. Right now the outside is almost as fascinating. You get to see what was messed up, what they've fixed, what they will and won't fix, etc. There's still some teak wood from the original hull laid down in 1912 that's visible.

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Regarding going inside, I think most all the lower decks have been closed for 30 years or more. I remember back in the 1980's you used to be able to climb down essentially to the water INSIDE the ship - think it was resting in the muck during those days and no longer "floating".

One would imagine those lower decks have to be in extremely poor shape. Many "normal" size Texans these days, including myself, would have a hard time navigating those small areas if they are restored.


Nevertheless, would be awesome to have as much access a they can afford to restore. That ship is a unique treasure to the US and should be designated as a National Monument and appropriately funded (I assume it is not a national monument, happy if I am mistaken).

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are any of the battleships on display a national monument outside of the USS Arizona? I bet not, most are owned by the State I would assume.

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Pretty sure when I was on the North Carolina you could walk around inside a bit. at least around the superstructure bridge.

the aircraft carrier at Patriots Point you definitely walk around in the hangars and crew areas.

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Pretty sure you can go below deck in the New Jersey as well as them doing sleep aboard for kids

agracer said:

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docb said:

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I always thought it was fitting to have the battleship with our state's name next to the decisive battle for Texas independence. It was a show of power to what we have become. Sad that we have to rely on ticket sales to aid in maintenance of the ship.

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how do you propose they take care of it? On wishes and nastalgia?

It was always a bad location. There is nothing else but the monument and a bunch of oil refineries out there.

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Unfortunately this is true. From my understanding on the tour, the only visitors to the area were school groups and a few dedicated history buffs. The Texas will need the incidental traffic being part of a tourist town brings. The foundation would like to be able to fund the upkeep of the ship through ticket sales, and use any endowment money for displays and repairs to the interior. I think the number was something along the lines of 200,000 visitors a year to do that, versus the 15-20k they'd get at San Jacinto.

I hope they keep some of those AA mounts operational so kids can pretend to sink all the ships and boats in the channel.

My 6yr old asks weekly win the battleship will be back. I took him the last weekend before they hauled her off to Galveston. That boy loves him some battleships

That Alabama is a gorgeous ship

just like the Wisconsin and Iowa and New Jersey.

I have been here in southern Tidewater Virginia

how weird that the Wisconsin is docked in Virginia?

LMCane said:

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I have been here in southern Tidewater Virginia

how weird that the Wisconsin is docked in Virginia?

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I wonder if the St. Lawrence Seaway locks could handle a ship the size of the Wisconsin so it could actually get to its namesake state.

jkag89 said:

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LMCane said:

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I have been here in southern Tidewater Virginia

how weird that the Wisconsin is docked in Virginia?

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I wonder if the St. Lawrence Seaway locks could handle a ship the size of the Wisconsin so it could actually get to its namesake state.

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I don't think it is ever leaving Norfolk. It's pretty much attached to a Naval museum. Likely they figure more people will visit it near the Navy bases at Newport News and VA Beach.

I didn't think it was. I was just wondering if it were feasible based upon your thinking it was weird that the USS Wisconsin was moored in Norfolk.

LMCane said:

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I have been here in southern Tidewater Virginia

how weird that the Wisconsin is docked in Virginia?

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I've always thought battleships are big (and they are, right?). Then I looked at the cruise ship behind it.