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Mayor backs sub at existing museum, creation of new park
McConnell said the outside of the museum building "has a
case of the uglies."
 


Saturday, December 28, 2002
 

     Charleston Mayor Joseph P. Riley Jr. has offered a new twist in
the Confederate submarine Hunley museum search: Revisit the idea of
putting the sub in the Charleston Museum downtown but also build a
Hunley park complete with a scale reproduction at the waterfront.
     Placing the sub in the established museum would allow the Hunley
to go on display quickly and at a price cheaper than the current $40
million price tag, Riley said.
     And putting a 40-foot reproduction at a pier next to the S.C.
Aquarium would allow the sub's life in Charleston to be told via a
dedicated Hunley park supported by a collection of tablets, plaques,
artwork and diagrams.
     It would also be where most Charleston tourists go, Riley said.
     "The visitor ... would be able to go to this point and from it
look out to the opening of Charleston Harbor and see the site where
the Hunley went down," Riley said in a letter to Hunley Commission
Chairman state Sen. Glenn McConnell.
     "You would be able to walk out on the pier where the Hunley
reproduction is located and almost feel the same connection that the
Hunley sailors had with the waters of Charleston Harbor," Riley said.
     His suggestion that the museum site be reconsidered as an option
comes after McConnell rejected the three bid packages put together by
Charleston, Mount Pleasant and North Charleston to house the sub,
calling them too low. It also is an attempt to bring the Hunley back
to the museum where it was initially pegged to go after it was
discovered seven years ago.
     "We continue to believe that the peninsular city of Charleston
is the best location for the Hunley," Riley said. "It is where most
all of the visitors who come to the Lowcountry go on their visit, and
the success of the Hunley museum and sustainable attendance would
best be achieved here."
     But Riley's suggestion may not be what McConnell is looking for.
On Friday, he repeated his assertion that the Charleston Museum on
Meeting Street appears to be too small to house the Hunley. Plus, he
said, placing it there would cut into the impact of what he wants: a
solo Hunley/Civil War maritime museum of about 40,000 square feet.
     "I appreciate his trying to think of ways to handle it, but the
Hunley would end up diluting that facility, and I don't think that's
in the best interest," McConnell said, adding that he wants a museum
focused solely on the Civil War at sea.
     And although he wasn't faulting the quality of the museum's
collection, McConnell said the outside of the museum building "has a
case of the uglies."
     "I don't want to scale back this project," he added, saying
there is no rush to find a home for the sub because the future
conservation plan is uncertain. The sub is now being kept in a
coldwater storage bath at the Warren Lasch Conservation Lab in North
Charleston. "The Hunley is safe, and she is affordable where she is,"
he said.
     McConnell said Riley's letter was the only formal contact he's
had from the three cities since publicly stating he thought the bids
were too low. So far, the highest offer - from North Charleston - is
about $11 million to build the museum at the north end of the old
Navy Base as part of the Noisette redevelopment project. Mount
Pleasant is suggesting $7 million to put the sub at the Patriot's
Point Maritime Museum. Charleston has offered about $5 million up
front to build the museum near the South Carolina Aquarium. In his
letter to McConnell, Riley notes that instead of backing the $5
million bond issue, the city could offer $550,000 per year for 15
years, which would amount to more than $8 million.
     Riley said another advantage of reteaming the sub with the
museum is that it would be a joint effort with the oldest museum in
the country. Also, he said, having a Hunley park at the waterfront
would be more inspirational.
     "Remember, this is essentially the site where the Hunley was
first launched and where Horace Hunley and the other sailors who died
(in the second sinking) were removed from the Hunley," Riley
said. "Arguably, this site without a building becomes a far more
powerful and emotional place."
     He called his proposal an "opportunity for citizens to stand on
the water's edge of Charleston Harbor and think about the gallantry
of those Confederate sailors, now almost 140 years ago."
     McConnell said he wants to see how the cities supplement their
museum bid packages or raise their cash offers before proceeding.
     "No offer is any good unless it can take us to the finish line,"
he said.
    

     Schuyler Kropf covers state and local politics. Contact him at
skropf@postandcourier.com or 937-5551.
BY SCHUYLER KROPF
Of The Post and Courier Staff



 

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