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Photographs from the Mayor's press conference can be found here.
PRESS RELEASE
The Executive Office, City of Providence, Rhode Island
DATE: THURSDAY, MARCH 21, 2002 MAYOR CIANCI, SARATOGA MUSEUM FOUNDATION, ANNOUNCE IMPENDING ARRIVAL OF'JULIETT,' RUSSIAN SUB AND STAR OF PARAMOUNT FEATURE FILM PROVIDENCE - Mayor Vincent A. Cianci, Jr., with Frank Lennon, President of USS Saratoga Museum Foundation, Inc. of Providence, today announced the impending arrival of a Juliett Class Russian submarine that will serve as a museum and tourist attraction in Providence this year on the Providence waterfront. Also in allendance were Saratoga Museum Foundation counsel Joseph White, an attorney with Nixon Peabody LLP, and refired Naval Captain Mike Landers, former chief engineer on board the aircraft carrier, USS Saratoga, among others. "We are enormously pleased to further submerge ourselves in our nation's unique history, while continuing to play our age-old role as America's premier port of call," Mayor Cianci said. "It is with a great deal of excitement, and with great promise for the future of our tourism industry, that we open our arms to the Juliett class sub. We are happy to provide a berth to this extremely important historical artifact, and to share in recognizing its great significance as a remnant of the Cold War and the largest existing conventional sub of its kind." The Mayor said that the City began discussions with the USS Saratoga Museum Foundation in December. The organization was looking for a coastal location for its 40-year-old Russian diesel- powered submarine where it could operate as a museum. Ultimately, the Foundation hopes to find a permanent home for the sub. "Bringing this historical and cultural attraction to Providence will further the city's role as an exciting tourist destination and establish, on our shores, a unique complement to nearby Heritage Harbor." The Saratoga Foundation, whose primary mission is to preserve and protect the aircraft carrier Saratoga -- currently in mothballs at Navy Pier 1 in Middletown--considers this project truly significant because the subs in this class were known to shadow the Saratoga on occasion during the Cold War. "We are pleased to confirm that the USS Saratoga Museum Foundation has signed an agreement to acquire Juliett 484, a 300-foot long diesel submarine which, like the USS Saratoga, was decommissioned in 1994 after serving her country during 30 years of the Cold War," said Frank Lennon, President of the USS Saratoga Museum Foundation, Inc. "We compliment Mayor Cianci on his ability to quickly grasp the potential of such an attraction for the city, and more importantly, for the decisive way in which he stepped in to make it happen." The Soviet Union created this Juliett Class of submarines in the late 1950s. Designed to provide an effective nuclear strike capability against East Coast cities in the event of a nuclear exchange between the U.S. and the USSR, the Soviets had planned to build 35 of them. Only 16, however, were actually commissioned. The Juliett 484, expected to arrive in Narragansett Bay at the end of this month, once carried four nuclear-armed cruise missiles and up to 22 torpedoes that could be fired from ten torpedo tubes. The sub was one of 6 assigned to the Northerm Fleet. It was launched out of the Gorky shipyard in August 1964 and decommissioned in 1994. The Finnish company, Sub-Expo, purchased the authentic sub from the Russian Ministry of Defense when the submarine was decommissioned. She was initially brought to Helsinki, where she played the role of museum and restaurant In 1997. *The Julieft," as she is sometimes referred to, was towed to Tampa, Florida, where she was scheduled to continue as a museum. Intermedia Film Equities, in associaton with Palomar Productions, chartered the Julieft and made it the centerpiece of a feature film due out this summer, entitled, K-19: The Widowmaker. Thefilm, to be distributed by Paramount Pictures, is about the real-life K-19 disaster of 1961 involving a reactor shutdown and stars Harrison Ford and Liam Neeson. Shot on location in Halifax, the film is the first feature project of National Geographic Films and promises plenty of thrills, adventure and historical accuracy. "We are hoping that, with this authentic sub in our waters, we will provide the best setting for the film's premiere," Mayor Ciancl said . "We are dedicated to working with the Saratoga Foundation to support a Providence premiere, complete with stars on the red carpet. We have also begun discussions with a local documentary filmmaker who is of Russian heritage. He has expressed interest in creating a documentary regarding the vessel and its arrival here in Providence. While we work closely with the Saratoga Foundation to find a permanent home for this attraction, we salute Pacific Gas and Electric, with whom we are working closely to finalize plans to berth the submarine at Collier Point Park. Our thanks as well to ProvPort, for providing the sub with a temporary berth as the Collier Point location is prepared for the submarine's arrival."
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