Used with permission of The Post and
Courier and Charleston.Net
Hunley viewing tickets have sold out again
All the tickets for extended times and days to view the
Confederate submarine Hunley have sold out.
Friends of the Hunley officials report that more than 4,000
tickets sold out in eight hours.
Officials may add extra times in December depending on the
results of tests to determine the sub's condition in its holding tank at the Warren Lasch
Conservation Lab in North Charleston.
Thursday, October 19, 2000
By SCHUYLER KROPF
Of The Post and Courier staff
Now you'll be able to eat your Thanksgiving turkey and see the
Confederate submarine Hunley in the same weekend.
Officials announced Wednesday that tours of the sub will be
extended for at least two more weekends in November, including the high-profile
Thanksgiving holiday.
Tickets go on sale Oct. 26.
Also, the number of people allowed on each 20-minute tour will
increase from 30 to 40 at a time meaning hundreds more will get a glimpse.
The extra spaces will be available beginning Oct. 28.
The announcement came after last weekend's public viewing at the
Hunley conservation lab in North Charleston went smoothly, and interest in the world's
first successful attack sub remains high.
Ticket prices remain at $10 each.
There's also a chance the tours could extend into December. But
that depends on how the sub is holding up.
If tests show the corrosion rate and presence of oxygen inside
the sub are safe and that no artifacts inside are in danger of deteriorating, the tours
will continue, said Warren Lasch, chairman of Friends of the Hunley.
But if the sub is at risk, archaeologists hope to enter it by
Nov. 26, at which time tours will be suspended until spring, he said.
The decision on extending the tours won't be made until
mid-November.
Tickets for new tour dates will be available only via Internet or
telephone. But there are some tickets available for currently scheduled tours that buyers
had overbooked.
The sub sailed into history in 1864 when it sank the Union
blockade ship Housatonic. The Hunley never returned.
TOURS
Oct. 21-22
Oct. 28-29
Nov. 4-5
Nov. 11-12
Nov. 18-19
Nov. 24-26 (includes Friday of the Thanksgiving weekend)
Tickets available at 9 a.m. Oct. 26 through ETIX, toll-free at
1-888-202-ETIX (3749) or on the Internet at www.etix.com
Used with permission of The Post and
Courier and Charleston.Net