PROGRESS REPORT 2009

Much Progress Has Been Made...

1. Navy donation: We submitted our revised application to the Navy on September 30, 2008. That was an update of the 1200-page, three-binder document prepared in 2000. As expected, the Environmental, Curatorial/Museum, and Community Support Plans of the application were found to meet the minimum requirements for donation. (The Environmental section is considered to be one of the toughest. We put in a lot of extra time on that one, which evidently paid off.) Our outside consultants are preparing responses to questions on the Mooring and Tow plans. We are preparing additional information in support of our Business/Financial and Maintenance Plans, and our entire response will be submitted by June 30.

2. Major fundraising success: We are delighted to report that local philanthropists Letitia and John Carter have committed a 3 to 1 challenge grant in the amount of $100,000. That means that for every dollar you contribute to pay for this work within the next three months, the Carters will match it with three dollars of their own. The proceeds of the Carter grant (and the matching dollars you donate) will be reserved for paying for the engineering and environmental work required by the Navy before our project can proceed. Showing the project is environmentally permittable is also a prerequisite for negotiating the lease of our mooring site from the State.

Mr. Carter is a successful local entrepreneur who founded his own company in 1963. Since his retirement in 2000, he and Mrs. Carter have dedicated themselves to making our community a better place. Both individually and through The Carter Family Charitable Trust, they have made significant financial contributions to a number of non-profit groups. As an example, their major gift supported the development of the Carter Center for Music Education, which operates under the wing of the Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra.

Education-based initiatives are high on their priority list, ranging from donations to the Brown University Medical School, as well as the Paul Cuffee School, a maritime-based charter school in Providence; and Community Prep, a private, nonprofit middle school in urban South Providence. They are also benefactors of such diverse organizations as Rhode Island Food Bank, Women & Infants Hospital, Planned Parenthood, and Rhode Island Public Radio.

We are honored and delighted that Letitia and John Carter have agreed to play such an important role to help achieve the Saratoga vision.

3. Environmental work progress report: The Foundation has already raised and spent more than $300,000 (cash and in-kind) over the past two years to meet environmental requirements. As of the start of this year, another $100,000 was needed to complete the work. As described above, the generous donation from Letitia and John Carter has guaranteed that we will have that $100,000 within the next three months, subject only to raising our $25,000 portion of the challenge grant.

URI Graduate School of Oceanography provided detailed hydrographic reports, along with a sediment core analysis. TensionTech, the London-based consultants who designed the software system the Navy itself uses, completed the preliminary mooring plan. Northeast Diving Services finished its underwater survey of Pier 2 and has determined it is in good shape. Pare Engineering has surveyed the pier deck and barge loading platform that we intend to incorporate into our mooring and visitor access plan. Natural Resource Services has surveyed Submerged Aquatic Vegetation, and has also performed a shellfish density analysis. Applied Science Associates, the premier company in this area of study, completed our two-phase numerical modeling/circulation and flushing survey.

The only other potentially significant environmental cost would result from additional core samples and biological testing which may be required by the Army Corps of Engineers. That exposure is mitigated by the commitment on the part of the University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography to donate any additional vibracoring that may be required. Some engineering work still remains to be accomplished once the permits are granted--to include the final mooring plan from TensionTech.

...But Some Hurdles Remain
The sinking of the Russian sub was a true test of fire for this organization; a less hardy and determined group might have thrown in the towel a year ago April. It had been decades since an entire sunken submarine had been safely raised and refloated by anyone. Thanks largely to retired Navy Captain Rich Suttie, the Foundation was able to convince the Department of Defense that raising a sub which had sunk in relatively shallow water, and at a relatively safe location, would be a once-in-a-lifetime training opportunity. Unfortunately, the deterioration caused by being underwater for more than a year was severe. As a result, we were not able justify the enormous investment it would have required to restore and reopen the sub as a public attraction. We have since sold the sub to a scrapping company.

However, the "never give up" tenacity of Saratoga volunteers, especially Ken Johnson and Bill Sheridan, was largely responsible for the fact that the sub was successfully raised, and we live to fight another day. That next hurdle is already upon us. On March 16, in a totally unexpected move, the Quonset Development Corporation went into in an executive session, where the staff presented a letter, prepared in advance and replete with factual errors, that canceled the reservation our hard-working volunteer group held on a space that no one else has used or wanted for more than 30 years.

We are puzzled that the State would treat this project so cavalierly at the height of the economic crisis, when every new job created is precious, and when every new dollar that can be infused into the beleaguered state treasury is important. Saratoga creates 80 immediate jobs, 500 more jobs in the community, offers unparalleled job training opportunities through use of the many trade shops aboard the ship, and promises to spend more than $6 million private dollars to improve state property. More importantly, this investment does not require a dime of state money.

On behalf of all Saratoga volunteers and supporters who have labored so hard over the past 11 years to bring this project to the brink of success, we want to assure everyone that we will continue to fight until the battle is won.

Last Updated:
6/13/09