NEWS Site for new National Museum of the US Navy announced

[Uncle Fester]

Site for National Museum of the United States Navy formally announced​

I know this site - it's a vacant lot squeezed between the Navy Yard fenceline and a condo building, mostly used for overflow parking for Nats games. There's a couple of old, vacant brick warehouses that I assume were part of the Navy Yard at one time - looks like it, anyway. Given all the sites in/around the District they could have put this, it seems like kind of a dumb/puzzling choice. Very limited footprint and no place for parking - visitors will pretty much have to Metro it in and then a half-mile or so walk, which is going to make for ADA-compliance issues.

The museum was first announced in 2020. The groundbreaking is planned for October 2025 coinciding with the Navy’s 250th birthday. It is projected to open by 2030.

Why the hell has it taken four years to even decide on a site and seriously, five years to build? It took less than three to build the WTC Twin Towers ffs. Mrs Fester and I visited the existing museum on the Navy Yard a few months ago and all but a few of the exhibits were already packed up for storage pending the move. As a DC-area museum nerd, I find this all disgruntling.

 

[Mos]

Government (in)efficiency.

 

[Flash]

I know this site - it's a vacant lot squeezed between the Navy Yard fenceline and a condo building, mostly used for overflow parking for Nats games. There's a couple of old, vacant brick warehouses that I assume were part of the Navy Yard at one time - looks like it, anyway. Given all the sites in/around the District they could have put this, it seems like kind of a dumb/puzzling choice. Very limited footprint and no place for parking - visitors will pretty much have to Metro it in and then a half-mile or so walk, which is going to make for ADA-compliance issues...As a DC-area museum nerd, I find this all disgruntling.

I think they're too fixated on keeping it close to the Navy Yard, and as a museum nerd myself it is annoying to me as well given the plethora of locations not just in DC but around the country. I actually interned at the museum when I was in high school, back in the age of sail, and it was just an okay museum back then too, pretty aged and just sort of ad hoc'd in many parts.

If I had my druthers I would have the museum pier side with a few ships as part of it, with plenty of candidate ships all around the country and several locations too.

 

[Griz882]

All of the national service museums face the same issue…the artifacts are primarily government owned, but the buildings are primarily funded by and maintained by foundation donations. The land must either be government owned, or donated by someone who has very deep pockets. The preference for federal (on base) land is driven by ease of building rules, savings on pre-construction infrastructure, and facility security. The actual construction is a marvel and I will follow this one closely. With reference to the National Museum of the US Army, I was there when they cut down down the first tree, I signed the “topping out beam,” and saw every artifact from button to helicopter and tanks go in….and every decision had a budget impact that was watched closely by both the government (who is funding the exhibits and building systems that protect the artifacts) and foundation (who are covering the cost of every plan change).

Personally, I think the Navy Yard in DC is a poor choice. The design will constrain the size of the exhibits…and the Navy has lots of large stuff. I am also saddened by the lack of a historic ship at the museum (or maybe rotating ships). Had I been “the deciding factor” I would have picked either Boston (near to the USS Constitution), Philadelphia (at the old navy yard there), or San Francisco/Alameda (both have sufficient room but the old air base would be the best).

Expect many changes…when building something like this there are a lot of opinions, dreams, and ideas. Every piece of the Navy will want a “special” exhibit (and that should be avoided) and many people will even be offended by the fundamental architecture of the space. Powerful personalities will clash and the search for the “perfect” artifact to tell a story will offend a lot of people. Still, the process is absolutely amazing to follow!

 

[Uncle Fester]

I think they're too fixated on keeping it close to the Navy Yard, and as a museum nerd myself it is annoying to me as well given the plethora of locations not just in DC but around the country. I actually interned at the museum when I was in high school, back in the age of sail, and it was just an okay museum back then too, pretty aged and just sort of ad hoc'd in many parts.

If I had my druthers I would have the museum pier side with a few ships as part of it, with plenty of candidate ships all around the country and several locations too.

Boston adjacent to the Constitution's pier would seem a natural fit, but given how Charlestown waterfront real estate has boomed over the past decade, probably a non-starter. Same story for SD near the Midway. If they were determined to have it in/around DC, Anacostia Park is right across the river, already Fed property and mostly just empty space, or Jones Point Park in Alexandria.

No chance for a museum ship at the Navy Yard, since they built the Frederick Douglass Bridge just downstream, though if they really wanted to embrace irony they would get an LCS.

 

[Flash]

No chance for a museum ship at the Navy Yard, since they built the Frederick Douglass Bridge just downstream, though if they really wanted to embrace irony they would get an LCS.

Maybe not a 'ship' but plenty of other options like submarines, landing craft and PT Boats among many others.

And if you don't have the ships I think it would also be fascinating to have displays like the gun deck of one of the original six frigates, the gun deck of a battleship or cruiser turret and a modern CIC among many other options. A more interactive set of displays along the lines of the 'carrier deck' at the Pensacola museum. But that would need space and more importantly, as Griz points out, money.

 

[Uncle Fester]

Personally, I think the Navy Yard in DC is a poor choice. The design will constrain the size of the exhibits…and the Navy has lots of large stuff. I am also saddened by the lack of a historic ship at the museum (or maybe rotating ships)...

It's also going to be a nightmare to do the construction. Tingey St is a very narrow two-lane that dead-ends at the fenceline. M St is one of the main roads through SE, and there's no direct access to the site from M anyway, as it's blocked by the old Navy Yard brick wall. How they're going to get equipment and materials into there, I have no idea, and it's going to suck for the residents.

 

[squorch2]

Government (in)efficiency.

lmao no. it's to do with the vagaries of one highly placed person who no longer works at NHHC, plus covid, plus sequestration, plus budget shenanigans, plus lack of CNO sponsorship, plus the fact that NAVSEA (and, especially, NAVSEA 08) is Right There, etc etc

but really, it's that one person moving on in their life that opened up the doors to finally, FINALLY moving forward with a NMUSN site.

Sites NHHC had verbals to use for NMUSN but died on the vine:

• National Harbor
• Unnamed site one block over from Nats Park
• Disused Smithsonian Museum on the Mall

The for-realsies site at 4th & Tingey has been in the mix for... god, for over 10 years now.

Godspeed to NHHC, WNY tenants, and all involved. Gonna be a hell of a ride.

 

[squorch2]

No chance for a museum ship at the Navy Yard, since they built the Frederick Douglass Bridge just downstream, though if they really wanted to embrace irony they would get an LCS.

No chance for a waterborne museum ship anywhere.

There isn't funding, staffing, or desire from USN stakeholders to maintain such a ship, and no one wants to see an official museum/display ship end up like the former Barry or, worse, Olympia.

 

[taxi1]

How they're going to get equipment and materials into there, I have no idea

 

[Flash]

No chance for a waterborne museum ship anywhere.

There isn't funding, staffing, or desire from USN stakeholders to maintain such a ship, and no one wants to see an official museum/display ship end up like the former Barry or, worse, Olympia.

Which is why they should put them in permanent drydock like the HMS Victory in concrete like the Mikasa.

 

[cfam]

Which is why they should put them in permanent drydock like the HMS Victory in concrete like the Mikasa.

Couldn’t agree more. The New Jersey just had to do a yard period to ensure she stayed seaworthy over the long term, and she’s one of the better funded museum ships out there.

I led tours on Olympia in high school, and I remember being in the bilges and watching fish swim through holes in the hull. The only reason she didn’t sink back then is that she would ground at low tide. Luckily the Seaport Museum has stepped up their preservation efforts and patched the holes in place using a floating cofferdam, but they still need $10-15 million in order to dry dock her, as she hasn’t been out of the water since 1945.

 

[Hair Warrior]

View attachment 41340

Or use HMX-1 assets, since they know the airspace and are always doing practice touch-and-go’s anyway.

 

[FinkUFreaky]

lmao no. it's to do with the vagaries of one highly placed person who no longer works at NHHC, plus covid, plus sequestration, plus budget shenanigans, plus lack of CNO sponsorship, plus the fact that NAVSEA (and, especially, NAVSEA 08) is Right There, etc etc

How are highly placed inept individuals, budget shenanigans, sequestration etc not examples of government inefficiencies?

 

[Uncle Fester]

No chance for a waterborne museum ship anywhere.

There isn't funding, staffing, or desire from USN stakeholders to maintain such a ship, and no one wants to see an official museum/display ship end up like the former Barry or, worse, Olympia.

Does the Navy still own, or partially own, Wisconsin? My understanding of how that partnership works is foggy. I think the Navy does still own Nautilus.