Before the 23,000-square-foot, open-air center is constructed, the project calls for lifting the current center from the unstable ground. The center's buildings, constructed in 1979 on soft soil fill, were designed to adjust up to 18 inches as the ground settled. They have been re-leveled five times with added shims, but portions have sunk up to 30 inches — beyond the limit of the design.

The project's timetable raises the $38 million construction cost and predicts finishing the work by Dec. 7, 2009, the 68th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The entire project has a projected cost of $52 million.

This project covers the park's shoreside facilities and will not impact the sunken USS Arizona or the memorial that rests above it.

According to news release issued by the Park Service, the preferred alternative calls for construction of new visitor center buildings adjacent to the existing facility. The visitor center structures would be placed in a linear, campus-based fashion.

The environmental assessment is available online at parkplanning.nps.gov (search for USS Arizona Memorial).

Hard copies of the assessment are available for review at the Superintendent's Office, USS Arizona Memorial and at public libraries in Honolulu, Hawai'i Kai, Kailua, Wahiawa, Waipahu and 'Aiea.

If requesting a copy of the document, please call 422-2771 and specify whether you would like an electronic version on CD-ROM or a paper copy.

The public comment period closes on April 6. Comments may be posted electronically at parkplanning.nps.gov or mail comments by this date to Regional Project Director, USS Arizona Memorial, 1 Arizona Memorial Place, Honolulu, HI 96818.