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Master and Commander
Posts: 1814
Location: Boydton, Virginia | Subject: Silversides status??
Anyone heard about the status of Silversides re:
1)drydocking funding
2) conversion of new museum bldg to charter school
3) New Director relations w/ volunteers
Steamboat sends
Edited by steamboat 2008-09-29 10:26 AM
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Master and Commander
Posts: 2254
Location: Foothills of the Ozarks | Subject: RE: Silversides status??
steamboat - 2008-09-29 11:21 AM
Anyone heard about the status of Silversides re:
1)drydocking funding
2) conversion of new museum bldg to charter school
3) New Director relations w/ volunteers
Steamboat sends
As of the last communication I received it was FUBAR.
When I get home on Wednesday (Oct 1) I'll copy and paste the last communication I received. There has been a change in the leadership and they DO NOT appear to have the best interests of the boat in mind.
More to come
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Master and Commander
Posts: 2254
Location: Foothills of the Ozarks | Subject: Update on Silversides
Below is an answer an status I received from a member of the Silversides Board. I edited out the personal stuff at the beginning of his e-mail.
This from Paul Kidd; Base Commander of Escolar Base and a member of the Silversides Board
As you know there has been a great deal of back-and-forth information regarding what I still view as highly unwelcome changes in the situation regarding our Boat and the new museum. While much of what has been passed around had in fact been proposed by the new leadership, much of what they meant to do has since been eliminated. One case in particular is the Charter School that the newly hired director (Brian Hughes) had planned--as is the case with the 'Japanese Garden,' which never got beyond the talking stage. But I did hear Mr. Hughes discussing the Charter School, even before he was formally hired.
Here are the facts as I know them: A wealthy local business man named Mark Fazakerley has put up the most of the money to build the museum--and he has, in fact, pretty much taken charge of the whole thing.
It was he who hired Hughes, and then Hughes fired Bob Morin. Bob is still 'Chairman of the Board,' but Hughes is the museum director; Bob Morin has no say-so anymore about anything to do with it.
As to the money removed from Silversides dry docking fund--it was used in construction for the new building. The excuse they used was that they had to finish the building within 5 years or lose the lease on the property. Now, there is another rumor saying that they did not actually spend the money, but used it for collateral on which to borrow more money for the museum. If that is true, it puts another slant on the situation. They might have told us this, but then, that really no longer matters, since the money cannot be used for what we had been promised it would be spent for--the long overdue dry docking of our Boat.
Unfortunately I have been guilty of passing on other statements of a lesser nature, but which tended to lead most of us to believe that we SubVets were being shunted aside, along with Silversides. As of now--while I do abhore many factual acts that have taken place regarding this mess--I do not think we are in any danger of losing the Boat. Accordingly, what I wish to do now is to see if we cannot just accept some changes that we cannot alter, and do our best to 'sail on.' |
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Master and Commander
Posts: 1814
Location: Boydton, Virginia | Subject: RE: Silversides status??
It seems there would be grounds for legal action if they "stole" funds given for drydocking.
And what were they thinking, building a Japanese garden in the vicinity of a WWII US Navy Submarine? Are they really that ignorant of history?
Oh well, The Old Gal is in a primo location and is privleged to have the loving care of some pretty dedicated Subvets.
Thanks Doc, for your research into the matter.
Steamboat sends |
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Silversides status??
