A long battle lies ahead for a group of Navy verteans who want to dock the
USS Des Moines heavy cruiser along Milwaukee's lakefront as a tourist attraction. The group has been working for years, trying to stir up support and donations (they need $20 million) for the proposal from various veteran's orbaizations, politicians, business owners, and citizens, but receiving approval may not be smooth sailing.
In addition to all the necessary approvals from regulatory agencies (the DNR, the Army Corps of Engineers, etc.), opponents of the proposal have some legitimate concerns regarding how the large ship (as long as two football fields and as tall as a 6-7-story building) will impact the lakefront in Veteran's Park.
It seems the parking and fencing issues are the most valid. There are existing parking lots nearby at McKinley Marina and behind the War Memorial Center, but there doesn't seem to be any word whether the proposal would require those lots to be enlarged. It would be a shame if even just a small portion of the park would have to be paved over to make more room for cars. The notion of fencing off an area around the ship also is still somehwat vague; but I don't think throwing up fencing along the lakefront (chian-link or even those fancy wrought iron type fences--to keep people away when the ship is not open for tours) near the ship isn't a great idea either.
I think the criticism about the ship's size relative to the old Coast Guard Station (which will hopefully be rehabilitated as a Native American educational center) is somewhat less valid, since the ship will be quite a ways away, on the other side of the marina.
Considering a ton of money still needs to be raised before the ship, drydocked in Philadelphia, can be taken out of mothballs (assuming the project even gets approval), it may be a while before Milwaukee sees this ship come in, if at all
You may be wondering, why choose the
USS Des Moines, a relativey obscure Cold War-era heavy cruiser, and not the
USS Wisconsin, a more appropriately-named and famous WWII battleship? A group once looked into bringing the
Wisconsin to Wisconsin, but discovered in the early planning process that the ship was too big to traverse the locks in the St. Lawerence Seaway and Great Lakes. Incidentally, the bigger battleships are named after states, while the smaller heavy cruisers are named after state capitals.
As always, see the
Journal Sentinel article for more on the story:
Defense mounts against Navy gunship - Park preservationists question local ties, cost of bringing USS Des Moines to lakefront
Some renderings of the
USS Des Moines proposal:
Of course, anchoring the ship in Veterans Park near the Milwaukee County War Memorial makes quite a bit of sense, thematically. Also fitting with that theme, is the America's Freedom Center, which was proposed a while back as an extention of the War Memorial Center (though I think some of the architecture and site work for that project is absolutely horrible).
Have a look through the America's Freedom Center's website:
America's Freedom Center
Aerial view of the proposed Freedom Center:
A view from Veterans Park:
Looking from the Art Museum plaza:
A view from Lincoln Memorial Drive:
These projects, while they may be good for the city, spark the debate over a more coherent, controlled vision for the lakefront and park system. These things really need to be planned accordingly, keeping in mind that the quality, beauty, functionability of our lakefront and parks should not be sacrificed for a bunch of tourist attractions. These projects must tread carefully or they won't happen.