The Navy is preparing to sink the dreams of some Dundalk activists ? literally.
Members of a Dundalk-based group hoped to bring retired aircraft carrier USS Forrestal to the Sparrows Point shipyard and convert it into a maritime museum. The ship anchored what they called a “new vision” for the Baltimore County peninsula, a tourist attraction bolstered by hotels, marinas and casinos.
But Navy officials said Tuesday that the ship is not available for Baltimore. After idling on a donation-approved list of retired ships for five years, they?re preparing to sink the massive USS Forrestal for fish to use as an artificial reef.
“The ship was removed from donation hold in 2004 because no progress had been made finding a permanent berthing location for the ship or in submitting a complete application,” said Katie Dunnigan, a spokeswoman for the Naval Sea Systems Command. “The ship will not be re-added.”
The Navy donates retired ships to cities, states and nonprofits who submit applications and funding plans, but none were submitted when the ship ? which features three full-length enclosed decks and a 4-acre flight deck ? was on the list in 1999. The Dundalk group, formed to oppose a proposed liquid natural gas plant at Sparrows Point, pitched the Forrestal as part of a tourism-based redevelopment plan to state officials earlier this month. LNG Opposition Team coordinator Sharon Beazley estimated the ship could generate 5,300 jobs and millions in county and state tax revenue.
Beazley and other team members presented the idea and economic projections ?they said the museum could break even if only 3.75 out of every 100 of Baltimore?s Inner Harbor visitors ventured to Dundalk ? to Maryland Transportation Secretary Robert Flanagan earlier this month.
They?ve scheduled a presentation to Baltimore County officials next month. Though surprised, Beazley said she?s not discouraged by the ship?s federal status. She also said she would be willing to consider one of the dozen ships currently on the Navy?s donation list.
“It?s not sunk yet,” she said. “We?re fighting the federal government on LNG; why not fight them on the ship?”
John Lawler, a board member of the nonprofit USS Forrestal Museum Inc., a group of Forrestal veterans who have been trying to bring the ship to Baltimore from Rhode Island for the past decade, said he met with Navy officials last week and debated the ship?s value.
Lawler said he argued the ship, the nation?s first supercarrier, should be put back on the donation list. He said he expects a written response in the next few days.
