Battleship New Jersey facing tough times after state aid cut to zero

The number of salaried staff members at the Battleship New Jersey Museum and Memorial has been reduced from 50 to six over the last four years.

The curator stays overnight during children's sleepovers on the ship so officials do not have to pay someone else.

The president-chief executive officer of the floating museum also pitches in, sometimes even transporting the alcohol to catered events aboard the ship.

The Battleship New Jersey is in troubled financial waters this summer after the state cut its appropriation to zero from $3.4 million four years ago.

The battleship, which last year received about $1.7 million, was referred to the New Jersey Historic Commission for funding in fiscal 2012. The commission has a $2.7 million budget and dozens of smaller historic sites to assist.

In the end, the battleship was awarded $32,500, "not even one month's electric bill," said Jim Schuck, museum president and CEO. "We were set up to fail. The Historic Commission has no capacity to give us what we would need."

But the New Jersey's operators will not give up. It is full speed ahead on an e-mail-writing campaign to Gov. Christie - with copies to legislators - to persuade him to restore funding.

The ship is looking for corporate help and individual donations while stepping up efforts to attract visitors. About $3 million is raised each year from tour groups, overnight encampments, and events.

The Camden waterfront attraction holds more than 100 military events annually, including World War II and Vietnam reenactments, veterans reunions, reenlistments, a Pearl Harbor Day remembrance and other commemorative ceremonies. The Navy, Coast Guard, and State Police regularly perform training on the New Jersey.

"We're not giving up hope. We've been trying to get away from state funding," said Schuck, who would not say how operations would be affected by the loss of state aid.

"We have a lot of people with passion for the ship," he said. "We just need money. The events are down because of the economy."

Every year, about $1 million is spent on maintenance, $700,000 on utilities, and $600,000 on insurance. "That's $2.3 million before you open the doors," Schuck said.

The ship had hoped to debut an exhibit that would allow visitors to load projectiles and go through a simulated firing of a turret gun. "But we can't open it," Schuck said. "We don't have the funds to promote it."

Stepped-up financial pressure is being felt by many New Jersey museums, though not all have had their funding eliminated by the state. The Newark Museum received $1 million, half of what it got last year.

"Why do they get money from the state, and we don't?" Schuck asked. "Why are we being treated differently?"

Christie said the state simply did not have the money to restore funding to the battleship. The Legislature included the aid as a line item in the budget proposal the governor vetoed in June.

"We are extremely disappointed," Schuck said. "We are a source of pride for the state. People from all over the country come to see the ship."

The New Jersey's operators are looking for money wherever they can find it. Schuck said $350,000 that was left in the account of the now-defunct New Jersey Battleship Commission should have been transferred to the Camden site rather than to the Battleship New Jersey Historical Museum Society.

The society, which has provided displays and some funding to the New Jersey, has about $300,000 of that sum left, Vince Falso, the group's president and former battleship crew member, said Monday. It makes battleship presentations to veterans groups, and uses its van - decorated with the ship's image - in parades, Falso said.

Schuck would like to see the society's funds used for the ship's operations.

"I refuse to look at the worst-case scenario," he said. "We will keep moving forward . . . I want to be emphatic. We won't close.

"It's hard to sink a battleship," Schuck said. "This is a special lady, and she needs to be taken care of."