Vandenberg In Political Trouble?

[mike_s]

Monroe County has Board of County Commision elections in November and the current crew is not to popular(understatement of the year). This could be the death blow to the ship because it is not too popular outside of KW.

Well most of the rest of the keys isn't that fond of Key West... I imagine that has something to do with it. They don't want to see county tax money spent on something for that town.

That's pretty narrow sighted of them... seeing the economic impact that the county will see on lodging tax and sales tax. Not to mention the benefit to hotels, merchants, eateries, etc.

There is an economic report out somewhere on how much influence the Speigel Grove had on Key Largo and people coming there to dive it and also on with preliminary info on Pensacola and the USS Oriskany. Before the Oriskany, P'Cola wasn't that busy of a dive destination. Now the boats are filled about every weekend, and at a much higher charged rate.

 

[deepstops]

Well most of the rest of the keys isn't that fond of Key West... I imagine that has something to do with it. They don't want to see county tax money spent on something for that town.

That's pretty narrow sighted of them... seeing the economic impact that the county will see on lodging tax and sales tax. Not to mention the benefit to hotels, merchants, eateries, etc.

There is an economic report out somewhere on how much influence the Speigel Grove had on Key Largo and people coming there to dive it and also on with preliminary info on Pensacola and the USS Oriskany. Before the Oriskany, P'Cola wasn't that busy of a dive destination. Now the boats are filled about every weekend, and at a much higher charged rate.

Yep, the folks in Monroe would be extremely short-sighted to not make this happen. From the article I linked earlier this morning:

In May, 2006 the Pensacola Convention and Visitors Bureau invested $1 million in bringing the aircraft carrier, USS Oriskany to the Pensacola Florida area, where it was placed as an artificial reef. PCVB estimated that their entire investment was returned to the surrounding community during the three days after the carrier was sunk. The expenditures of divers visiting artificial reefs in Florida, such as the USS Oriskany, were more than $220 per person per day and the return on investment is more than $131 for every $1 dollar of local and state investment. According to one study, artificial reef sites based on sunken ships generate an average of $3.4 million in gross revenues annually.

 

[canadianreefer]

I think it is fair to say that we have not seen a overwhelming amount of far sighted leadership for the last while.

Particularly in a election year I have a hard time believing that any politican will spend any political capital on this project, particularly since the economic payoff will not show up until after the November elections.:11:

A sad state of affairs.:no

 

[Capt Scotty]

It would be really sad for the Keys for the Vandenberg not to sink in the Keys.....

 

[Buoyant1]

Well if Key West doesn't get a signature wreck, then a lot of people will be forgetting about diving in Key West...

(Surface interval anyone?)

 

[mike_s]

Well if Key West doesn't get a signature wreck, then a lot of people will be forgetting about diving in Key West...

(Surface interval anyone?)

In my opinion, Key West has never been a big dive destination. It's been more of a "party destination". Also a "Cruise Boat Destination".

For diving, there is much better diving in the upper/middle keys that you would pass on the way down. So it has never had a big draw of divers compared to the other keys.

Sinking this wreck would add a whole other group of people with a decent economic impact.

note, that they've been saying they were going to sink the Vandenberg since before the Speigal Grove was sunk (that was in 2002)

 

[Buoyant1]

In my opinion, Key West has never been a big dive destination. It's been more of a "party destination". Also a "Cruise Boat Destination".

For diving, there is much better diving in the upper/middle keys that you would pass on the way down. So it has never had a big draw of divers compared to the other keys.

Sinking this wreck would add a whole other group of people with a decent economic impact.

note, that they've been saying they were going to sink the Vandenberg since before the Speigal Grove was sunk (that was in 2002)

Oh I definately agree...Key West used to be my favorite place to go, but once I started diving, Key Largo and Marathon tops the list!


It's nice to know it's there because if something further up gets cancelled, I know I can slip into a trip down there because they usually don't fill up as fast.

 

[Al Mialkovsky]

Well if Key West doesn't get a signature wreck, then a lot of people will be forgetting about diving in Key West...

(Surface interval anyone?)

I agree. I live in Key West and honestly the diving is better further up the keys. Without the Vandenberg I think a couple of shops will be going out of business as it's very slow down here right now.

The V needs to go down and if it does I suspect it will be November as currently planned.

 

[deeper thoughts]

By KYLE TEAL, kteal@keynoter.com
Posted - Wednesday, July 16, 2008 01:56 PM EDT

The USS Hoyt Vandenberg sits at the dock at a Virginia shipyard.


Efforts to scuttle a 520-foot former military ship off Key West as an artificial reef now appear to be sinking faster than any vessel could.

The cost to put the USS Hoyt Vandenberg on the sea floor seven miles off the island is now $8.45 million -- 3.9 times higher than the $2.1 million estimated when the project was proposed in 2001.

Now, Key West City Commissioner Bill Verge says it might be best just to cut losses and sell the Vandenberg to a scrap yard for around $2 million. That's because banks helping finance the deal are starting to get skittish, he says.

"Well, it will be clean scrap, because they spent several million dollars cleaning it," says County Commissioner Sonny McCoy.

The banks -- BB&T, First State Bank and Orion -- originally offered to invest a combined $4.6 million toward the scuttling but stopped funding it at $3.2 million.

Others financing the deal include Monroe County, the city of Key West (which holds title to the ship), the state and the U.S. Maritime Administration. However, none of the governmental agencies have released any money. All are waiting for the scuttling first -- which increasingly looks like it won't happen.

"If I had to place a guess, I'd say we're going to scrap the deal," City Commissioner Barry Gibson says.

"I feel badly that so many people did so much work," Commissioner Teri Johnston added. "It looks like it's not going to come to fruition. I would be very surprised in these economic times if someone had another million and a half to contribute."

The ship is docked at Colonna's Shipyard in Virginia.

 

[Al Mialkovsky]

Key West is a pretty short sighted town. It's a burg that would rather be drunk than productive. I've had my doubts about this ever happening and those folks who work for the city are more worried about saving their own personal jobs than anything else. A lesson learned, don't trust Key West.