SS United States gets $5.8 million Lenfest donation

INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

The ship is rusted and shedding paint, its railings dented in places and missing in others, its once-plush interior stripped to the bone.

All it needs to be a ghost ship is ghosts.

But the SS United States - its name faded but visible on the bow - is going to come back from the dead, if its supporters have their way.

Officials announced Thursday that Philadelphia philanthropist H.F. "Gerry" Lenfest will donate up to $5.8 million to help save the ship, a storied but suffering ocean liner celebrated at a ceremony Thursday night on the Delaware River.

The money will allow the Washington-based SS United States Conservancy to buy the ship from Norwegian Cruise Line, a subsidiary of Genting Hong Kong, and maintain the vessel in its South Philadelphia berth for up to 20 months while redevelopment and refurbishment plans are completed.

The group, which has worked for years to promote the ship and prevent its destruction, wants to turn it into a historic attraction, permanently set on the waterfront of a major city.

Dan McSweeney, executive director of the conservancy, led a tour of the SS United States in advance of Thursday's ship-lighting ceremony, timed to honor the 58th anniversary of the vessel's maiden voyage, when it set a transatlantic speed record. The funnels, bridge, radar mast, and running lights were lit.

The ship is enormous, bigger than the Titanic, rising high above its berth at Pier 82, over a parking lot busy with cargo haulers and big trucks.

From the bridge, the bow seems a mile away. Overhead, at the foot of the crow's nest, the wind rips through in gusts. The smokestacks are bigger than corn silos. From upper decks, you can see traffic moving in South Jersey.

On one deck lies the faded outline of a shuffleboard court.

The interior is dark as night. When people are aboard, they move by flashlight through a dusty maze of rooms, doors, and stairways. The inside is not a shadow of its former self-there's hardly anything left at all. Portholes are broken. The flooring is cracked and peeling. Stray bits of wire, metal, and debris are everywhere.

At first glance, renovation seems impossible.

But McSweeney says the opposite.

"It's very possible, absolutely," he said. "What does it cost to put up a new building?"

Already, he said, the conservancy has heard from developers, potential investors, and municipal officials in New York and Philadelphia.

The SS United States, completed in 1952, still holds the westbound transatlantic speed record. The ship transported four men who were or would become U.S. presidents, along with countless heads of state and military and business leaders. It also brought immigrants to these shores.

William Francis Gibbs, the ship's designer, was born and raised in North Philadelphia and Rittenhouse Square, going on to become a well-known naval architect. Steel for the ship came from Lukens Steel in Coatesville.

During the Cold War, the SS United States was a secret weapon, designed to be quickly converted to a troop ship that could carry soldiers 10,000 miles without refueling.

"I can recognize the profile," said Frank Nolan, a New York lawyer who toured the ship Thursday, and traveled aboard it in 1968.

Nolan, who is handling the sale for the conservancy pro bono, was a University of Notre Dame student back then, crossing the sea from New York to France on his way to spend his sophomore year at the University of Innsbruck in Austria. He remembers shooting skeet off the stern, and being able to order food at any hour.

Conservancy board president Susan Gibbs, granddaughter of the ship's designer, called Lenfest's donation "a game-changer in our work to save this irreplaceable American icon." She also credited the ship's owner, who "turned down higher offers to partner with us in this patriotic effort."

The ship has had numerous owners since being removed from service in 1969. This year, Norwegian began accepting bids from scrap firms, bringing new urgency to preservation advocates.

McSweeney said Norwegian had been offered more than $5 million from scrap companies, but was willing to sell to the conservancy for $3 million. The Lenfest donation enables the conservancy to enter into an exclusive purchase-option agreement with Norwegian. Once title is transferred, the donation will provide the conservancy with 20 months to begin development.

The group wants to establish a public-private partnership to own and operate the ship. Plans could include stores, restaurants, museums, and entertainment venues. Conservancy officials said the ship would generate hundreds if not thousands of jobs during its renovation and afterward.

"We are not out of the woods yet," McSweeney said. "Mr. Lenfest's donation has allowed us to triage the SS United States. Now comes the very challenging work of solidifying plans in New York or Philadelphia, and that will take significant capital. . . . This is very far from the end of the story."