USS Arizona closed for repairs
| • | Graphic: Arizona Memorial repairs |
By Mike Gordon
Advertiser Staff Writer
After 22 years and the steady tread of millions of visitors, the USS Arizona Memorial's floating dock and access ramp are being replaced with something more user friendly.
Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser
The National Park Service closed the memorial yesterday for work that is scheduled to be finished by March 15, said Brad Baker, a spokesman for the memorial.
Work on a new floating dock and access ramp for people in wheelchairs has begun at the USS Arizona Memorial.
The floating dock will be replaced and a ramp built at the entry so that people in wheelchairs will have an easier time getting in. The park service has a ranger-operated lift that allows visitors to bypass a short flight of steps, but it only accommodates one person at a time, Baker said.
Cleaning crews are also going to give the bright white memorial a once-over.
"We can also send our staff out there to do some cleaning on the memorial that we don't have a chance to do normally," Baker said. "Everyone is kind of excited to get everything spic-and-span and all cleaned up. It is not easy; we have so many events out here."
The Navy also plans to overhaul the shuttle boats it uses to ferry people from the visitors center to the memorial.
During repairs, the Arizona Memorial visitor center, museum and bookstore will remain open from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. Updated information can be obtained by calling 422-0561 or by visiting the memorial's Web site.
Baker did not know the cost of the repairs.
The schedule
Since the park service took over the memorial in 1980, more than 30 million people have toured the historic shrine. The ramp took a beating from both visitors and the salt air, Baker said.
Sections of the dock have been replaced in the past, but never the whole thing, he said. The new dock and ramp will meet guidelines set by the Americans with Disabilities Act.
"It will alter the look of the place but it won't detract from the memorial," Baker said.
The new floating dock will be built with structural grade galvanized stainless steel for greater durability, he said.
Baker said the repairs will not affect shoreside activities at the visitors center. The bookstore and museum will remain open and the park service will continue to show its 23-minute documentary on the Dec. 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor.
