Pearl Harbor memorial, film share spotlight
 |
Reader survey: 'Pearl Harbor' gets medal |
 |
Tell us what you think of the movie and the making of the film |
| • | Advertiser special: The Pearl Harbor Story — Major Movie, Real Memories |
By Mike Gordon and Walter Wright
Advertiser Staff Writers
The movie "Pearl Harbor" is inspiring thousands to see the real thing.
Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser
"It's kind of cool to be able to come here before seeing the movie," said Thayne Thompson, a 9-year-old from Alpine, Utah, clambering over the signs at the USS Arizona Memorial visitor center yesterday with his sister and cousins.
Hillary Vincent, a ranger for the National Park Service, attends visitors waiting to see the documentary that precedes the boat visit to the USS Arizona Memorial. Tour visits have received a boost from the movie "Pearl Harbor."
"We've been to Hawai'i five times, but this is the first time we've come to the memorial," said Shannon Ramos, a property manager from Sacramento, Calif.
"We never had time before, but we wanted to come before we see the movie," she said, squeezing in a last-minute visit with daughter Taliessa and husband Richard before their 1 p.m. flight check-in.
Although tourists make up the bulk of visitors, national park rangers say much of the new surge in attendance is coming from Hawai'i residents, some of whom are visiting the memorial for the first time.
Sisters Kara, Kristen and Kasey Kogachi of Kahala came primarily so grandfather Sakai Shigeta of Hilo could visit Pearl Harbor for the first time, but it didn't hurt to think that movie stars Ben Affleck and Josh Hartnett had trod this very ground.
"Pearl Harbor is suddenly part of the national conversation," said Dan Martinez, historian at the national park.
Crush may spur support
Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser
The surge shows more Hawai'i residents are discovering the state's No. 1 visitor attraction is not just for people from out of town, he said.
Sakai Shigeta of Hilo visited Pearl Harbor with his three granddaughters, including Kristen Kogachi, 14, and Kasey Kogachi, 11.
With the 60th anniversary of the Dec. 7, 1941, Japanese attack coming up, the crush will continue all year, and could spur support for long-overdue expansion of the visitor center and museum, as well as for extended hours, Martinez said.
Since the gala premiere here May 21, and a flood of TV documentaries, crowds at the memorial have been as large as 5,500, compared to crowds of 2,500-3,000 normal for the end of May. It's a number normally not seen until mid-June, said Kathy Billings, park superintendent.
It means that the wait to get into one of the maximum 30 daily 150-person programs with boat tour can be up to two hours at peak times.
You may luck out after noon (the waiting line was down to 25 minutes at 1 p.m. yesterday), but the best time to arrive is before the park opens at 7:30 a.m., park officials say.
The facility, which lacks air-conditioning, is cooler at that hour while crowds are smaller, the frequent cruise ship hordes have not arrived 2,000 strong, and there's a good chance for an early boarding to ride the Navy boat to the memorial structure over the sunken battleship Arizona.
Many visitors have seen the film or the television specials, "and Pearl Harbor is very much on their mind," Billings said. About 1.45 million people visit the memorial each year. With the 60th anniversary ceremonies, the number could top the 1992 high of 1.6 million.
"I think it is going to be full bore until the end of December," Billings said. "I think right after Thanksgiving we will see bigger numbers than we ever saw before."
With so many waiting for their tour program number to be called after they pick up a free ticket at the door, business is booming at the 1,000-square-foot bookstore and adjacent museum.
Bookstore business booming
Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser
Customers were bumping into each other yesterday to look at post cards, CDs, videos, models, souvenirs and hundreds of books.
"We've been to Hawai'i five times, but this is the first time we've come to the Memorial. ... We wanted to come before we see the movie," said Shannon Ramos, a property manager from Sacramento, Calif.
Tom Shaw, executive director of the Arizona Memorial Museum Association, has stocked the bookstore with half a dozen new titles published in time to catch the movie and anniversary wave.
He says he'll sell out the 500- and 1,000-lot orders before summer is over.
His online book orders could triple this year to more than 15,000, he said. He's hiring more staff to handle the mailing.
It's a nice problem to have, Shaw said, but "the downside is there are so many people at times that it is not comfortable ... and they probably don't spend as much."
The crowds have Arizona officials thinking out loud about expansion to be financed with the $10 million fund-raising drive here and across the nation.
Shaw said the bookstore could easily be twice as large.
"The problem is not too many visitors," he said. "The problem is lack of space. We want as many people as possible to come here and remember."
Billings has to think about everything that affects the quality of the visitor experience in the national shrine, from the number of boat rides to the number of bathrooms.
Soil and other studies are under way before any specific plans are proposed. The human side of the operation also is being pushed to the utmost, Billings said.
"It is very intense" for the rangers trying to respond to each visitor's needs, Billings said.
"There are lots of people coming through and lots of questions. It is constant go, go, go," she said. "We have a wonderful staff. They are the best I have ever worked with in dealing with crowds.
"But they get tired."
