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Status of the

Battleship IOWA Museum/Memorial Foundation

As of May 16, 2006

General Information

The Battleship IOWA Museum/Memorial Foundation, a 501(c)3 non-profit Foundation, is resolved to acquire and restore the Battleship USS IOWA for use as a historical museum and memorial, a history and technology education center, and ceremonial ship honoring all who have served in the United States Armed Forces.

The Foundation’s goal is to preserve for current and future generations the proud legacy of IOWA and the distinguished tradition of the U.S. Navy in the Pacific, in Northern California, and Stockton.  The Foundation will establish IOWA as a United States, Northern California and San Joaquin Central Valley community resource – a teacher of history, science, and leadership for young people, an important cultural event center, and an intriguing people-friendly education, recreation, and entertainment destination.

The idea of creating a Battleship IOWA Museum/Memorial dates back to 2001 when the Port of Stockton received Rough and Ready Island from the US Navy. Rough and Ready Island was a former Navy Communications and Supply Station containing approximately 1,500 Acres of Land, 54 major buildings and a 6,000’ long dock fronting on the San Joaquin Deep Water Channel.  Also in 2001, USS IOWA was moved from the East Coast and placed in the Navy’s Suisun Bay mothball fleet located near Benicia.  About this time, the idea of the Battleship IOWA Museum/Memorial took form and grew, resulting in the Port’s concept of endowing a small portion of Ready and Ready Island for this project.  This action would be a way of expressing thanks to the US Navy for the acquisition of Rough and Ready Island, as well as providing the neighboring residents of the City of Stockton and the San Joaquin Valley with a very unique and highly visible museum, educational, and cultural facility.  

The proposed site of the Battleship IOWA Museum/Memorial will be at Berth 14, at the eastern end of the 6,000 foot long dock located on Rough and Ready Island, the former Navy Communications and Supply Station originally established in WW II, and is now owned and being redeveloped by the Port of Stockton.  The Port is seeding this project with a one-dollar-a-year 50 year lease that provides the Battleship IOWA Museum/Memorial Foundation with a 1,000 foot Dock for the mooring of IOWA, a 90,000 SF Waterfront Building for use as a Historical Pavilion, and 15 Acres of land for parking and Museum use.  The value of this endowment is conservatively estimated to be in excess of $33+ M. 

Concentrated planning for this project has been in process for nearly two years, and on May 2, 2006, the Battleship IOWA Museum/Memorial Foundation submitted to the Navy a Letter of Intent to apply for donation of IOWA, as required in the Federal Register Notice announcing that USS IOWA was available for donation to an organization in California.  Congressman Richard Pombo originated the necessary legislation making IOWA available for donation, and, with the aid of Senator Dianne Feinstein, legislation placing the IOWA in the US Navy’s Ship Donation Program was signed into Law by President Bush on January 6, 2006.

The Foundation has developed the required ship donation application, is in the final stages of editing and assembly of the application, and plans to submit it as soon as possible.  It may be of interest to know that the application is quite extensive, currently well in excess of 2,000 pages, and includes the following seven required elements:

1. Business/Financial Plan
2. Museum/Curatorial Plan
3. Mooring Plan
4. Towing Plan
5. Maintenance Plan
6. Environmental Plan
7. Community Support Plan

Information and Benefits of Port of Stockton Museum Site

 The Port of Stockton is a deep-water commercial port capable of handling ships that can navigate the Panama Canal.  Today this growing port is the second busiest inland port on the U.S. West Coast, the fourth busiest port in the State of California (busier than San Francisco and San Diego), and has trading relationships with over 55 countries.  Tenants of the Port currently provide over 4,500 jobs in the area of Rough and Ready Island, the City of Stockton, and surrounding areas.  The Port is located in the City of Stockton, a 2004 All-American City in the Central Valley of California, on Interstate 5 (the main interstate highway running North-South the length of the U.S West Coast between Canada and Mexico).  The Battleship IOWA will be easily visible to all travelers from this highway.  The Port is also within two miles of State Highway 99, another major North-South freeway running the eastern length of the San Joaquin Valley.

 Additionally, this conveniently accessible Port of Stockton location off Interstate 5 is literally on a California crossroads: 

(a)  Traveling North, I-5 carries traffic to Sacramento (the State Capitol), to Mount Shasta and Lake Shasta, on to Oregon and Washington, and ends at the Canadian Border.

(b)  Traveling South, I-5 carries traffic to Yosemite, the lower San Joaquin Valley, Southern California, Disneyland, Hollywood, Los Angeles, San Diego, and ends at the Mexican Border.

(c)  Traveling East and West via connecting freeways, traffic travels West to the San Francisco Bay area and the California Wine Country, and East to the California Gold Country, Lake Tahoe, and on across the Sierras, continuing to the Eastern United States.

The traffic count in vehicles-per-day on Interstate 5 through Stockton is one of the highest on a major freeway in California.  Stockton is approximately seventy-five (75) miles inland from San Francisco, approximately forty-five (45) miles from the Sacramento International Airport, and is within approximately sixty (60) miles of the Oakland International airport.  There is excellent freeway and surface road access to the Museum site.  Once Museum visitors leave the freeway system, the new Rough and Ready Island access road will provide them with an easy and pleasant approach to the Museum site.

 It is estimated that in 2008, the earliest date that Battleship IOWA Museum/Memorial will be able to open to the public, there will be a population base of nearly 1 million people within a twenty-five (25) mile radius of the proposed Museum site, 6 million people within a fifty (50) mile radius of the proposed Museum site, and within a seventy-five (75) mile radius, the population will be in excess of 12 million people.   For comparison purposes, 6 million people are about twice the population of the State of IOWA, and 12 million people are more than one-third of the entire population of the State of California. 

 The Battleship IOWA Museum/Memorial Foundation is finishing and assembling the required application package for the donation of IOWA to the Foundation for use as a museum and memorial, and is looking forward to the day that the application can be submitted to the Navy.

 We believe that with the Port of Stockton’s $33+Million contribution and unique site, and the skills and dedication of the Battleship IOWA Museum/Memorial Foundation’s experienced team, the Battleship IOWA can be developed into a world-class museum, education, and events center of which our Country, the Navy, our veterans, the states of California and Iowa, all of Northern California, and the City of Stockton, can be proud.

 There will be a Volunteer Program.  However, it is too early in the project to start up this program.  The interests and volunteer skills of those able to volunteer are very important to the Foundation, and the success of this wonderful Museum endeavor is greatly dependant on volunteers.  We have a small, lean, full-time staff experienced in acquiring a Navy capital ship and in developing a Naval Museum/Memorial, and we know through experience that our efforts presently must be solely focused on securing Battleship IOWA from the Navy. Without the ship, there will be no Museum, and, at this time, no additional help can aid us in performing the work that must be completed to acquire the ship.

 If all goes well, and our Foundation is selected to receive USS IOWA, the Foundation should be starting to recruit volunteers in early 2007.  Rest assured that when the Foundation opens the volunteer program, you will hear the Battleship IOWA Museum/Memorial Foundation’s call for volunteers “loud and clear”.