Vandenberg sinking

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that brings up a good point.


Will this ship bring an extra 10% divers to the keys that wouldn't have come? or will the people diving the vandenberg mostly be people who would normally dive the keys anyway but just take one day to do Key West instead?
 
I would have gone to see the vandenberg. When i get to Fl I like diving jupiter but the vandenberg I believe would have been worth the trip
 
They're wrong about the attraction diminishing over time. The longer it sits on the bottom, the more marine life it gathers and the better the diving, not to mention the fishing in the surrounding area. That's been the pattern at the Yukon off San Diego.
 
They dont have to go far to look for examples. Look at the ex Oriskany off of the panhandle and look at the Spiegle. To this day they are still drawing people. The mighty O is down just about 2 years and people are still looking to dive her and willing to make a trip specifically for her and the same is true about the Largo wrecks. The only real issue I see is what is coming after the Vandenberg to help entice even more divers. Maybe a retired navy destoyer or cruiser?
 
This is from Fridays Ket West Keynoter....it is exactly what this project does not need at this point.:no:no

The editor has folded once the going got tough:dork2:

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Shaking the money tree an ill-timed bailout

When is enough enough?

Very, very soon, taxpayers in Key West will get the answer to that question if Mayor Morgan McPherson's hunt for money to help sink the USS Hoyt Vandenberg runs short.

At last count, the city's effort to cover the ever-escalating costs is about $1.4 million shy. The mayor, returning from Tallahassee and pressing the flesh, believes he's got commitments from the state's Office of Tourism, Trade and Economic Development that will close the gap.

But the larger question remains: Is sinking the 520-foot former military ship as an artificial reef off Key West at a cost of $8.45 million the best use of scarce public dollars at a time of severe budget cuts for essential services?

Some will argue that debate was fought and lost long ago.

In fact, when private sponsors of the project first approached city business and civic leaders, the cost was estimated at a fraction of today's bloated price.

Bank loans secured to pay for preparation of the surplused Navy ship have already been depleted, which came as a shock to city officials when they recently learned about the shortfall.

Even Commissioner Bill Verge, among the staunchest supporters of the Vandenberg project, began to look for an exit strategy.

The city ordinance he had prepared for this week's commission meeting would have sent the ship to a scrap yard if additional funding can't be found in time.

Some think that was a ploy to shake the money tree of public and private backers. Well, we'll wait and see if it worked.

And if it doesn't, the accounting for good money thrown after bad will hang around like a three-day-old stink, one that voters aren't likely to forget any time soon.

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Clearly this paper has no vision and the political support for the project has evaporated.:shakehead::shakehead:
 
Myself and 4 other divers are coming to witness the sinking and hope to dive on this ship ASAP and will return very often. We need hotels and spend money, all to the local Key West area. I do believe there will be hundreds of divers coming to the area. This sinking has to be a boom to the local economy, I hope the powers to be realize this.
Mike



‘Vandenberg' plans in disarray

By Sam Nissen snissen@keynoter.com
Posted-Friday, April 4, 2008 10:01 PM EDT

Big shortfall puts scuttling into question

The USS Hoyt Vandenberg is making more waves without moving an inch.

While work to prepare the ship for its final mission as an artificial reef off Key West is proceeding, cost concerns have nearly sunk the project.

The project is 40 percent over 2006 cost estimates and time is running out to secure the added money, according to a project budget.


The new estimate of $8.45 million is 3.9 times more than the original estimate calculated in 2001, according to Monroe County Tourist Development Council records. Jeff Dey, whose company, Resource Control Corp., is part of the team scuttling the ship, filed that estimate - $2.18 million.

As the deadlines loom, BB&T Bank is considering pulling loans for the project, Key West City Commissioner Bill Verge said.

He said banks should see through their commitment, but that BB&T has reason to raise questions.

The bank and city became aware of millions of dollars in additional costs when the project manager, Reef Makers, used up bank allocations.

Verge described mounting costs as legitimate, and said they stem from various environmental concerns and unforeseeable variables such as the steep rise in gas prices the past few years. But, he added, Reef Makers should have warned the various governmental agencies involved in the scuttling for the 520-foot former military ship of the rising expenses.

Most of the unforeseen costs are in the removal and disposal of PCB-laced wiring, said Joe Weatherby, marketing director for Reef Makers. PCB is a toxic pollutant banned in 1979.

John McMahon, manager of the Key West branch of BB&T, said it is against company policy to comment on its relationship with clients.

Any pulled funding would add to the project's current $2.4 million shortfall. About $1 million of that is working its way through a legislative committee. Key West Mayor Morgan McPherson said he thinks the state's Office of Tourism, Trade and Economic Development can fund the rest.

“This is going to be one of the most different summers ever,” he said.

Asked if the TDC should pay more than the $1 million it already committed, he said: “I'd love to see the TDC come out with something, but that would have to be an action that board would have to address.

“At this point, the executive director, Harold Wheeler, has taken a pretty staunch position against extra monies being used. He hasn't been helpful up into this point, and I don't expect him to be helpful about it in the future,” he said.

Placing explosives on the ship to sink it will take a month, Verge said. To make the U.S. Coast Guard deadline of June 1, brought about by the beginning of hurricane season, the ship must be in place by the end of April.

If the ship is sunk, benefits to the Keys are disputed.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration contends the ship will increase diving 10 percent in the county, according to a report authored by Bob Leeworthy, chief economist for that agency. Added visitors will spend an extra $7.5 million each year since divers spend on lodging and other tourism businesses, the report says.

Wheeler said he thinks the impact could hurt the Upper Keys, where diving is a big attraction, or dissipate quickly.

“I believe if the ship goes down that it will have a very positive effect for at least a short period of time,” he said. The question is after a about a year and a half or two years, what economic impact is it going to have in Key West?”

Said Weatherby, “This is the right thing for our economy and our environment, but I recognize that people feel differently.”
 
Myself and 4 other divers are coming to witness the sinking and hope to dive on this ship ASAP and will return very often. We need hotels and spend money, all to the local Key West area. I do believe there will be hundreds of divers coming to the area. This sinking has to be a boom to the local economy, I hope the powers to be realize this.
Mike
I bet if each of you bring $300,000 it would help :D
 
Frankly it will take a miracle to make this happen any time soon if this is true.:shakehead:

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Norfolk shipyard accuses firm of failing to pay for cleanup work
By Tim McGlone
The Virginian-Pilot
© April 8, 2008
NORFOLK
Colonna's Shipyard has filed a federal lawsuit accusing a New Jersey company of failing to pay $1.6 million for work on a James River Reserve Fleet ship.
Reefmakers of Moorestown, N.J., was hired by the city of Key West, Fla., to clean up the Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg, a former Air Force missile range ship, and tow it to Florida for sinking as an artificial reef.
Colonna's claims it is owed $1.6 million for work cleaning the ship of oil, asbestos, PCBs and other toxic hazards, according to the suit filed Thursday in U.S. District Court.
A federal judge ordered the U.S. Marshals Service to "arrest" the ship, so it cannot be moved until the suit is ended.
The Vandenberg, owned by Key West, is scheduled to be sunk as an artificial reef seven miles off the Florida Keys in May. But, according to news reports, that project is in jeopardy. A Key West newspaper reported last month that city officials are having trouble raising $2.4 million needed to complete the project.
The Vandenberg served as a troop transport in World War II and carried Hungarian freedom fighters to Australia after the 1956 Soviet crackdown. Later it was converted to track missile tests and followed the Mercury and Gemini space liftoffs. The ship also appeared in "Virus," a 1999 sci-fi movie.
Tim McGlone, (757) 446-2343, tim.mcglone@pilotonline.com
 
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