RI group wants to host carrier John F. Kennedy - Navy News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Navy Times

RI group wants to host carrier John F. Kennedy

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — A Rhode Island nonprofit group on Monday launched a campaign to bring the retired aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy to the state for use as a museum, citing President Kennedy’s connections to Newport and the support of his nephew, Rep. Patrick Kennedy.

The effort by the Rhode Island Aviation Hall of Fame pits Newport County against Portland, Maine, the other site being considered by the Navy, which plans to donate the decommissioned ship. The winner will have to move the 1,050-foot ship from Philadelphia, where it’s currently being kept.

The JFK, known as “Big John,” was the last conventionally powered aircraft carrier built by the Navy, and it once carried a crew of 4,600 and 70 combat aircraft. It was built in Virginia and christened by Kennedy’s 9-year-old daughter, Caroline, in 1967. It was active in both Iraq wars and the war in Afghanistan, and decommissioned in 2007.

Kennedy did his PT Boat training at Naval Station Newport during World War II, was married in Newport in 1953 to Jacqueline Bouvier and spent so much time during his presidency at her childhood home in Newport, Hammersmith Farm, that it became known as the “Summer White House.”

Among the supporters of the Newport County proposal are Evan Smith, president of the Newport and Bristol County Convention and Visitors Bureau, who in a recent letter of support cited the Navy’s long history in Newport, and said the region’s 3 million annual visitors might like to tour such a ship. In a separate letter, Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I., said it would help continue President Kennedy’s long association with the state.

The Rhode Island Aviation Hall of Fame has been working for about a decade to open a museum on a different decommissioned aircraft carrier, Saratoga. But Frank Lennon, president of the group, said Monday they were abandoning that effort because of a recent decision by the Navy to dispose of the Saratoga rather than donate it.

“We’ve got the population mass, located between the Boston and New York market. We’ve got 10 years of experience. We’ve got Kennedy family connections,” he said. “I’m confident that we have a winner.”

Lennon estimates they will need to raise $8 million to $10 million for the JFK project, which is less than the $12 million to $15 million they would have had to raise for the Saratoga, which was in worse condition.

He said they already raised about $10.5 million, including donations, pledges and federal support, for the Saratoga. He said all the major pledges will be transferred to the JFK project, and the group is investigating whether the federal money can also be transferred.

If the application is approved, a hangar bay will be dedicated to a USS Saratoga Museum, he said.

Lennon said there are three or four locations on Aquidneck Island that would be appropriate to dock the carrier, but he would not say what they were because they are in “delicate discussions” about them.

Richard Fitzgerald, chief financial officer of the Maine group, known as JFK for ME, says they intend to raise $60 million over 10 years. He noted that given the choice of a port of call in 1989, the sailors from the Kennedy chose Portland Harbor, indicating Portland is the ship’s proper home.

“The return of the JFK to the waters of Portland Harbor will complete the wishes of the former crew,” he said. “This ship will have the honor of becoming the landmark of our harbor and in time she will honor all that served on her, and she will equally honor the state of Maine.”

The two groups have until early next year to submit a second-round application that includes a plan for operating the ship.

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Associated Press writer David Sharp in Portland, Maine, contributed to this report.