03/28/2025
Consider this! Making the United States into a museum ship seems like a better idea. $75 to $85 million to restore her. The USS Alabama has 320,000 visitors per year. The Queen Mary had 340,000 tourists last year. Over 500,000 went to see the USS Constitution last year. The USS Intrepid in New York sees more than ONE MILLION visitors every year! Say, 250,000 visitors, worst case scenario visit the SSUS at $40 a head, that's $10 million per year just on ticket sales, not counting jobs, revenue to local shops, food sales, and hotels, you name it. She could easily generate $15 to $20 million a year for Fort Walton. Restoration costs would pay for itself in seven or eight years, worst case scenario. The USS Oriskany generated 3.2 million last year (a record year) as a diving destination. Which plan makes more sense? This ain't hard math.
