USS Saratoga Museum Foundation, Inc.

Last evening the Quonset/Davisville Management Corporation Board voted 4-3 to recommend conditional approval for access to a portion of the carrier pier at Quonset, essential for work on the project to go forward. Foundation President Frank Lennon issued the following statement:

On behalf of the 65,000 sailors, marines and air crew who served aboard USS Saratoga between 1956 and 1994, and for all those who served previously on the WWII Saratoga, we would like to express our appreciation for the expression of support for our project voiced today by the members of the Quonset/Davisville Management Corporation Board.

As important as this recommendation for conditional approval may be, we are still a long way from our goal of opening the Air, Land & Sea Heritage and Technology Park at Quonset with Sara as the centerpiece. To borrow an analogy from mountain climbing, the mist has now cleared and we can see our way to the summit. There is still a long climb ahead, however.

We could not have even gotten this far had it not been for the support of US Congressman Bob Weygand, honorary co-chair of this effort, who has lent his personal time and energy and that of his staff to make sure our message was heard.

We also cannot say enough about the encouragement and support we have received from the Town of North Kingstown, our host community. Starting with the Harbor Management Commission, virtually every agency and organization in that town has endorsed our project, culminating with the strong resolutions of support on February 16 from the Planning Commission and Town Council. To all the officials and citizens involved our message is, "We intend to prove that your confidence in this project is well-placed."

We have received similar expressions of support from a number of surrounding cities and towns, elected officials, environmental groups, labor unions, educators and veterans groups. It would be impossible to mention all the endorsements in this short statement, but we are very grateful to each and every one of you.

Finally, we wish to acknowledge the hard work and fairness of Ron Patalano, Interim Manager of the Quonset/Davisville Commerce Park, and all of his staff who devoted the necessary hours to get this project to where it is today.

Governor Almond has also written that he, along with his staff and EDC staff, was committed to work with us to create an "economically viable and environmentally responsible" project. We look forward to working with EDC to accomplish that goal.

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Last Updated:
9/29/01