The USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor has been closed indefinitely after serious structural cracks were discovered. The memorial was built in 1962 and is positioned athwartship over the wreckage of the sunken battleship USS Arizona. The monument is only accessible by shuttle boats and averages over one million visitors per year. The National Park Service issued a statement:
Due to a critical structural and safety issue impacting the USS Arizona Memorial dock and visitor loading ramp, the Memorial will remain closed to visitation for an undetermined period of time while repairs are made….
Following several weeks of analysis and continued consultation with structural engineers, the NPS has determined that what originally seemed to be a minor repair process, is, in fact, more significant than originally anticipated. The amount of time needed to implement the repairs is unknown, but the NPS will continue to provide information to the public as our team of specialists works together to restore access as soon as possible.
While the repairs are underway, other programs and services will still be available to guests including a 25-minute documentary film and a harbor tour of Battleship Row in close proximity to the USS Arizona Memorial.
The memorial marks the resting place of 1,102 of the 1,177 sailors and Marines killed on USS Arizona (BB-39) during the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.
1962. 56 years ago, time for a little TLC.
I hope a solution is found soon for a key memorial that allows millions to respect their history and those that sacrificed their lives.
Lest we forget
I am gathering the museum was built on the crumbling ship. Where it should have been built on its own seperate pilings. It is probably what they will have to do. It is a quick easy fix. That way the ship can crumble with out the weight of the museum ontop of it. Alas when the museum is on its own pilings, divers will need to seperate it from the funnel that was used as a foundation.
Excuse my above post. IT IS NOT attached to the boat in any way. It is on pilings driven into the mud alongside the Arizona.
How can this happen:
First Kilauea Volcano, and Now BB-39 Arizona Memorial.
SAD
Willy,
No, its not built right on the old ship.
Note the date on this:
New, modernized Pearl Harbor USS Arizona Memorial visitor center opening Dec. 7
BY DEREK PAIVA NOV 29, 2010
The USS Arizona Memorial Visitor Center was sinking slowly into the waters of Oahu’s Pearl Harbor.
Not the actual USS Arizona Memorial, which since its 1962 dedication has rested solemnly in the middle of the harbor above the sunken hull of the famed World War II battleship. But the 30-year-old visitor center on the shores of Pearl Harbor, which annually prepared 1.5 million visitors for the ferry ride to the Alfred Preis-designed memorial.
The center was built on filled-in waterfront land, which engineers hoped would eventually settle just 18 inches. Instead, over the years, areas of the center’s foundation had dropped up to 30 inches, bringing it perilously close to water level. In 2003, engineers gave the visitor center a life expectancy of five to 10 years.
https://www.hawaiimagazine.com/blogs/hawaii_today/2010/11/29/Pearl_Harbor_new_visitor_center_opening_December_7
LOL, have it sink far enough and it will be like the sinking city attraction of Seattle. Ok different in the sense Seattle was built on sawdust for landfill