Is the Visitor Center at Pearl Harbor sinking???

Question

I have heard that it was, I really want to know. Mahalo

Answer 1

Eh Sistah Gloria, Howzit? Sorry I missed you wen u wuz heah.
The following posted in our Advertiser bumbye in 2004 (sorry it's long reading but the "yahoo answers kahuna" e-mail box limits me to only 1000 something characters). I had to go out back to da hula hut to find dis:

WASHINGTON — The visitors center at the USS Arizona Memorial is sinking, and so are prospects that it can be replaced at anything close to the original estimated cost.
"The building will fail in 10 to 12 years," said Bryan Harry, Pacific area director of the National Park Service. "The existing building was built years ago on poor soil. It is sinking, and that is a big ticket item ... $20 million easy."
The visitors center is just one item on what Harry called "an outrageous list" of backlogged maintenance and repair projects at Hawai'i's national parks.
That list, produced by decades of money shortfalls, probably won't get shorter for years to come. Efforts to reduce the backlog have been hampered by the war on terrorism, which siphoned away money for military and security needs.
Nationwide, the National Park Service is allocating an additional $12.4 million for security in fiscal 2005.
"Security comes at the cost of something else, and it varies place to place," Harry said.
Haleakala National Park on Maui badly needs a new sewage system to operate new restrooms.
"But because of Sept. 11th and the need for security, they pulled up a lower priority and instead funded more rangers for security," Harry said. "It was something they needed, but they needed a sewage system more."
The state of national parks in Hawai'i reflects a $5.4 billion maintenance backlog affecting the entire National Park Service, according to the Congressional Research Service.
Rep. Ed Case, a Democrat, said the National Park Service isn't spending enough to acquire lands in Hawai'i. He noted that development poses a serious threat to the Islands.
"We have the most beautiful resources on the whole planet," he said. "This is one of the only ways to preserve our natural heritage. The land lives — it's not an abstract thought — and it's under threat."
Democratic Sen. Dan Inouye agreed, saying war should not be the focus of every budgetary decision.
"Because the nature of war is that eventually it will end," he said. "You can't close your eyes ... so everything else is forgotten."
Harry's $20 million estimate for repairing the Arizona Memorial visitors center is almost twice the previous estimate. And it's about $3 million more than the entire annual budget to run Hawai'i's parks.
Inouye said he hears too many cost estimates to know which is accurate.
He is asking the Navy next year to conduct an engineering study on what it would cost to replace the visitors center.
"If we knew it was $20 million, that would be one thing. If it is $15 million that is another," he said. "We'll need some numbers that everyone can be comfortable with."
Efforts are under way to raise private donations to finance a study and ultimately replace the visitors center. The Pentagon is one possible source of aid.
"I need not tell you it is easier to get money from defense," Inouye said. "It is military land. Participating in building the foundation is a major cost item. I've been working on this ... very quietly."
Inouye said military officials have been reluctant to take on the visitors center project, even though it was the military that established the memorial in 1961. The memorial was turned over to the National Park Service because the military said it wasn't in the business of running museums.
But most military bases have museums, Inouye said.
"It is a natural thing for the Navy to get involved," he said.
The Arizona Memorial visitors center opened in 1980. It was designed to settle 18 inches because the land beneath it was fill dredged from the harbor. Engineers designed the building to be lifted with shims, which has been done four times.
But Harry said it may not be possible to shim the building anymore and renovating it could cost as much as replacing it.
Doug Lentz, who is the director of the USS Arizona Memorial said about $3.3 million has been raised to date in private donations to replace the visitors center.

All that said, it remains open to the public and poses no immediate danger. Wasa matter? You got feet wet wen you visit? Or weight of hubby make it sink couple inch more? jk jk!

Aloha, IP

Answer 2

When you ask about Visitor Center? Do you me the Arizona Memorial part of the center? Or do you mean the may pat of the Center where the museum and theater are located?

The Memorial is fine, in fact they just did a complete over haul,, face lift couple of years back.

The main Visitor Center is going to be close for a major redo in a short time, fact some of the buildings have sunk or settle a bit, causing some problems

Answer 3

Yes the visitor center is sinking. About ten years ago they raised the center about 12 inches but it continues to sink. There are plans in the works to rebuild and expand the center by first stabalizing the land. So far it has not been started.

Answer 4

I think I know what you are talking about. It was an article or something on National Geo. It is safe but the land underneath is not stable so it sinks a few centimeters every year. It isn't like Venice, more like the leaning tower of Piza. Everything is either sinking or rising on the planet, nothing to be concerned about though.

Answer 5

From my recollection it doesn't seem that way. I'd been there a few times through out my childhood there and as an adult visiting the Vistor Center.

Answer 6

Hi. I just went there last year, and several times before that. I don't know if that is true or not, but I never heard it (and it looks the same to me!)