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Texas Towns Vie to Land a Famous, But Costly, Battleship

Texas Towns Vie to Land a Famous, But Costly, Battleship

(Bloomberg) -- It isn’t every day that a national historic landmark looks for a new home.

The Battleship Texas Foundation has put out a request for proposals from municipalities interested in hosting the U.S.S. Texas. This is not your average battleship. Once dubbed the world’s greatest battleship, the dreadnought was commissioned in 1914 and served in both World War 1 and 2. It achieved landmark status in 1976 and today is the only one of its kind in existence.

But as a tourist attraction, the Texas has been struggling. Which brings us to MuniLand and public finance.

Texas Towns Vie to Land a Famous, But Costly, Battleship

The state of Texas plans to refurbish the ship, replacing its hull below the waterline and other renovations. The state will provide $35 million for this, but no more. Admission fees will have to cover future costs, and that helps explain the foundation’s search for a new location.

About 80,000 people a year visit the ship now but it needs 250,000 to 300,000 to become self-supporting, says Bruce Bramlett, executive director of the foundation. The location now is part of the problem -- the Houston Ship Channel at San Jacinto battlefield park, about 25 miles east of downtown Houston and, judging from photographs, surrounded by refineries and tank farms.

“The ship in its current location, it just doesn’t work,” Bramlett said.

The municipalities that wish to host the Texas -- bids are due April 10 -- will no doubt have to spend a bit of money. The winner will need to set up facilities, such as parking and perhaps a visitors center, and then of course some sort of berth: the battleship is almost two football fields in length, has a draft of 28 feet, and is 107 feet at its widest point.

I have to think the winning municipality will borrow the money to construct these accommodations. The foundation is a nonprofit, so I wouldn’t also be surprised to see Battleship Texas bonds at some point. (The ship is expected to re-open for visitors in 2022.)

Getting more visitors doesn’t seem out of the question. The U.S.S. Lexington aircraft carrier, which opened in 1992 as a ship museum located in Corpus Christi, 200 miles down the coast, has 300,000 visitors a year and is entirely self-supporting, according to executive director Steve Banta.

The battleship Texas is more than 100 years old, but its adventures in MuniLand are just beginning.

(Joe Mysak is a municipal market columnist who writes for Bloomberg. His opinions do not necessarily reflect those of Bloomberg LP and its owner, and his observations are not intended as investment advice.)

To contact the reporter on this story: Joe Mysak in New York at jmysakjr@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Elizabeth Campbell at ecampbell14@bloomberg.net, Larry Reibstein

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