SSBN-658 Sail Move Update

Yesterday, the Board of Directors of the Mare Island Historic Park Foundation approved for presentation to the City of Vallejo the conceptual plan for the permanent location of the sail from the Mariano G. Vallejo SSBN 658 at Alden Park, just across Railroad Avenue from the museum at Building 46.

Many thanks to Chris Rasmussen and John Chamberlin -- it wouldn't have happened without their time, dedication and commitment. And to the rest of the MIHPF Advisory Committee for all the time and effort invested.

John writes:

It is with great satisfaction I inform you of the passage of the proposal to permanently locate the SSBN Mariano G. Vallejo submarine sail in a park-like setting, with access to all, and containing historical information within the display.

The Mare Island Historic Park Foundation has voted to proceed with the development of the permanent display within Alden Park that will be located directly opposite the MIHPF Museum, which also contains many other artifacts of the 658 including the actual submarine control room which was removed at time of recycling in 1995.

 

A fund raising effort titled  "S(ave)  O(ur)  S(ail)" will be launched in the immediate future and 100% of the proceeds will go directly to the sail fund.

 

A projected completion date of Phase One of the project is planned for July 1, 2011, which will coincide with the visit of the 658 Crewmember's Association, headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee, for their first reunion here since 1999.  As Mare Island founder Admiral David Farragut's birthday is July 5th, an unveiling ceremony celebrating Mare Island history could be of substantial interest and value to our surrounding community.

 

Much work must be done and many obstacles overcome, but with community support, it is possible.

 

In appreciation of all involved,

John Chamberlin

MIHPF, Member, Board of Directors 

While this seemed like a major effort, the real work can begin now; first, city approval, and initial fundraising. 

If you're former crew of the Vallejo and don't already know about it, please visit http://www.ssbn658.org/ to contact former crew members and possible crewmates.


Board President Ken Zadwick reports that the sail is currently getting refreshed, courtesy of Jeffco Painting and Coating Inc. Way to go!! Pictures when it dries out a little bit -- windy and rainy today and I don't feel much like dragging the cameras out there. 

SF Chronicle article

From the San Francisco Chronicle, 

"Peaceful haven grows on corner of Mare Island" Carolyn Jones, Chronicle Staff Writer Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Today, thanks to the obsessive efforts of a small cadre of volunteers, visitors are more likely to find poppies, buttercups and wild roses.

"It's like the invisible Presidio," said Brian Collett, a landscape architect hired to write a plan for the site but became so intrigued he signed on as a volunteer. "It has all the cultural, historic and scenic elements, but it's been eclipsed. No one knows it's here. It's a hole on the map."

Letter to the editor in re: Permanent Sail Location

Dear Ms. Rohrs,

I understand you are covering the upcoming April 26 Mare Island Historic Park Foundation Board meeting and the agenda item regarding our plans for the care of the SSBN-658's Sail.

As a volunteer in the museum and one of the many Vallejo residents involved in the project, I urge you to support the MIHPF Advisory Committee proposal to relocate the sail to a more appropriate location. It is our almost unanimous decision to suggest that the sail be located in Alden Park, adjacent to the Polaris Missile already located there, along with artifacts representing 150 years of activity on the Mare Island Naval Shipyard. Some of us have put quite a lot of time and energy into possible locations for the sail, taking into consideration factors ranging from visibility and ease of public access, to ongoing cost to the foundation, to long term plans by Lennar and their future development intentions.

As it is currently sited on Causeway A, it is only visible from two very narrow "windows": about 200 feet of Nimitz avenue, and about the same length of River Park adjacent to the Front Room Restaurant. From the Vallejo side, it appears as a grey-ish box shape, resembling nothing much more than a large dumpster with numbers painted on it. There is no public access to the sail without prior arrangement, it's easy to miss, even from 100 feet away, and if my understanding is correct, the City does not want it to remain there permanently.

While Alden Park is not the perfectly ideal location for the sail, it represents the best compromise given our needs and lack of budget: it will not require ongoing fees to be paid to the City -- unlike other historic venues around the country, the MIHPF pays some tens of thousands of dollars annually to the city of Vallejo for the privilege of  maintaining the buildings and artifacts we co-curate with the city: building 46, built in 1855 and housing the artifacts the foundation has agreed to care for, Quarters A and B, and Saint Peter's Chapel with its Tiffany Studios stained glass windows. 

The park is immediately adjacent to the museum and mere yards away from her original construction site. Such locations are typical of the other submarine sail locations across the nation. It is already a "park-like setting" appropriate to visitor access and reflection -- as such it will actually reduce maintenance costs to the city as the footprint of the sail will reduce the area requiring landscaping. It concentrates our Naval history within the historic core district as planned by Lennar, and approved by the city some years ago if I am not misinformed. It also represents an immediate solution unimpeded by Lennar's long term plans for the Historic Waterfront, or the City's apparent lack of interest in all things Mare Island.

It is important to us, the volunteers for the MIHPF, to proceed as quickly as possible -- with the 1100 member strong  Mariano G. Valleo Crew reunion scheduled here for July 4th, 2011, this represents great potential to improve the City's image as a visitor's destination. They have already offered to start fundraising for this project, a fact I find both stunning and extremely encouraging. 

We have very, very tentatively discussed the possibility of adding an event to welcome these visitors. As July 5th is Admiral Farragut's birthday, it occurs to me that a Farragut Festival could be an annual event with great potential to bring large numbers of of repeat visitors to our city, perhaps with popular attractions like a BBQ cook-off, and / or a Gold Rush or Barbary Coast theme along the lines of the Renaissance Faire.

If we act now, it is reasonable to believe that we can have the sail installed in Alden Park in time for the Crew Reunion. Please help.

Milestones!

We've finished two major projects -- the Hammer Wall is finally presentable. It still needs a few finishing touches -- credit for the crew among the very first

John Chamberlin made it happen with motivation, construction plans, and tools and materials. His wife Janice and Cindy Eastwood did the conservation of the hammers and mounts, Bob Smith, Bill Eastwood,  Roger Lambert, Rod Lissey, Jack Tamargo, and Sam Shoults for cookies and donuts, moral support and helping hands when needed, and yours truly for grunt and groan with holding the dumb end of the tape measure, slapping up mud, and slapping on the paint.

GREAT JOB, all of you!


They need a legend at reading height -- they look great when you're right in front of them, but ten or fifteen feet above floor level the letters are awfully small, and reflections many. There's been some discussion of a timeline and cast or stamped copies of ships logos -- we have a few dies in storage, and some of them were still in oil when they came into our care.

And milestone number two: the periscopes from the Mariano G. Vallejo, SSB/N 658 have been temporarily ensconced on the main floor of the museum, awaiting completion of the Vallejo's control room exhibit, when, if all goes as planned, the scopes (or at least one) will be installed in functional form. "Fire torpedoes on my mark. MARK!"





More Photos Here.

Until next time,

Erik Halberstadt

Fabricating the Stand for the MI Bell

Joe Corbelli and his son, Chris, did a fantastic job of fabrication. Come see it in the entrance to the Museum, then step around to the left to see the newly (almost completed) Hammer Wall and our collection of keel laying hammers and plaques.

More images of the fabrication and installation of the Navy Yard MI CAL 1877 bell to follow.

The Bell

From Unofficial Mare Island Museum

As always, more images at my Picassa album...MI museum album