To read Maritime Executive’s coverage of this news, please go here.

To read the original release of the RFQ, please go here.

To request a copy of the RFQ packet, please visit: www.SSUSC.org/redevelopment

On last Monday, April 23rd, Conservancy and Redevelopment Project leadership, Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter and James Zolfo, Co-Executive Producer of the film, held a press briefing at Philadelphia’s Pier 82. Joined by Sharon Pinkenson, Executive Director of the Greater Philadelphia Film Office, Mayor Nutter and Zolfo spoke about the Dead Man Down and Philadelphia’s burgeoning role in the film industry, while Conservancy Executive Director Susan Gibbs and Redevelopment Project Managing Director Dan McSweeney spoke about upcoming events for the 60th anniversary of SS United States’s maiden voyage.

To read more about the conference and the film, please click here to read more coverage of the event:

Many thanks to all our friends and supporters who turned out!

Dead Man Down is a romantic thriller directed by Niels Arden Oplev, who previously directed the Swedish version of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. The movie stars Colin Farrell, Noomi Rapace, Terrence Howard and Dominic Cooper. Colin Farrell (Total Recall, In Bruges) plays Victor, the right hand man to an underground crime lord in New York City. In his quest for retribution, Victor's life intertwines with Beatrice played by Noomi Rapace (Prometheus, Sherlock Holmes 2), a victim seeking justice.

The cast and crew will film the exterior of the SS United States and in limited areas of historic vessel's interior.

If you are in the area, come show your support for the United States and the great city of Philadelphia tomorrow. The press briefing will provide an overview of this exciting film and also offer an update on progress underway to preserve and redevelop our national flagship.

To attend the press conference, please arrive no later than 3:15pm outside the gate of Pier 82. The event should run about 30 minutes.

For those unable to join us, the Conservancy will soon share photographs and video footage of the film shoot with our members and supporters.

A blurb (in German) about the documentary is available from N24's TV schedule.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SS UNITED STATES CONSERVANCY NAMES JOYCE LANDRY TO ADVISORY COUNCIL

Cruise Ship Industry Veteran Joins Growing Group of Notables to Save America’s Flagship

Media Contact:
Thomas J. Basile, SS United States Conservancy
TBasile@EmpireStrategy.com – 917-579-2216

You can read the article in its entirety here.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SS UNITED STATES REDEVELOPMENT PROJECT RELEASES REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS

Media Contact:
Thomas J. Basile, SS United States Redevelopment Project
TBasile@EmpireStrategy.com– 917-579-2216

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

TITANIC VS. SS UNITED STATES:  TRAGEDY AND ACHIEVEMENT

New Web Feature Compares Titanic to America's Greatest Ocean Liner

SS UNITED STATES REDEVELOPMENT PROJECT NAMES NEW CANAAN ADVISORS, REAL ESTATE SOLUTIONS GROUP TO GROWING TEAM TO REPURPOSE HISTORIC AMERICAN OCEAN LINER

Veterans of Grand Central Terminal and World Trade Center Join Redevelopment Effort

To further our goal, we are embarking on an effort to compile a comprehensive inventory of the vessel's existing artwork, furnishings, and other artifacts. Ultimately, we hope to make this information available for researchers and historians, to facilitate communication and information exchange among enthusiasts and collectors, and to identify sources for future loans in support of the Conservancy's exhibitions and displays.

To accomplish this ambitious undertaking, we would be very grateful for your assistance. If you own original items from the ship, we hope you might be willing to complete the attached survey. Sharing this information with the Conservancy in no way implies any intent to loan or donate your material. At this stage, we are simply trying to create a comprehensive record of how the SS United States' legacy endures in material culture and memory. Please help us by taking a few minutes to complete this short survey!

For a pdf version of the survey itself, please click here.  If you'd prefer to complete the survey online, please, click here. 

If you have any questions about the survey process, please don't hesitate to contact the Conservancy's curatorial associate, Margaret Stack, at mstack@ssusc.org. 

Please join us for refreshments, a silent auction, and an evening of conviviality in honor of the SS United States at the Wharf Preview Center at 700 Water Street SW in Washington, DC! The doors open at 6:00 PM, and the festivities will conclude at 8:00 PM.   We can't wait to see you there! 

Thanks to our generous friends, we’re able to offer a wide selection of great prizes! We’ll be raffling off Conservancy gear and great ocean liner memorabilia. There will be four prints of US Lines vessels (SS United States, SS America, SS President Roosevelt / President Harding, and SS Republic) from Russell T. Parmerter, of www.oceanliner.us. For the nostalgic traveler, we have two (2) tickets aboard the Dover Harbor – a 1934 Pullman sleeper / buffet lounge car, operated by the Washington DC chapter of the National Railway Historical Society, making a round trip to Newport News on April 28th. Interested in expanding your knowledge of history? We’re offering two separate private walking tours, for a group of up to 15, of historic Alexandria, VA, and Annapolis, MD!

ALL proceeds from the auction and the event will go towards saving our ship!  

If you'll be joining us, please RSVP and register for the event here.  If you're interested in donating an item to the silent auction, please contact Sarah Carley at scarley@ssusc.org!

Special thanks go to Chris Beck, Bob Craycraft, and PN Hoffman, Inc. for graciously providing us with refreshments and this beautiful space!

The evening begins at 5:00pm in Vander Clute Hall on the campus of SUNY Maritime College, and will continue until 9:00pm. Hors d'oeuvres will be served, as well as a selection of beers, wines, and soft drinks, covered under the price of admission

Situated in the Bronx, SUNY Maritime's campus at Fort Schuyler commands a stunning view of the East River and Long Island Sound. It contains one of the SS United States' five-bladed propellers and is the home of the Maritime Industry Museum, which will be open to guests throughout the evening.  All three of the SS United States' Commodores - Harry Manning, John Anderson, and Leroy Alexanderson - were Fort Schuyler graduates.

Tickets for this event are limited, so be sure to reserve yours in advance by going here and ordering yours! If you can't join us on the evening of the 24th, we'll miss you terribly, but you can still support the SS United States - please consider making a donation. We depend on your good will and contributions to keep our ship alive!
 

John Reynolds of Atlantic Logistics, whose firm has been taking care of the SS United States since 2003 and plays a key role in the SS United States Redevelopment Project, is being honored by the Seaman's Church Institute of Philadelphia and South Jersey.  He will receive 2012's Spirit of the Port Award, given in recognition of his work as Chairman of the Maritime Exchange, among various other endeavors. We at the Conservancy could not be more grateful for all the help that he has given us over the past years, and are proud that we can help recognize all of his good work.

The Award luncheon will be held at the Sheet Metal Workers' Union Hall, at 1301 South Columbus Boulevard in Philadelphia. Opening for registration at 9:30am, the celebration will begin at 10:00am with a special pre-screening of the documentary SS United States: Made in America - an update of the hit SS United States: Lady in Waiting released several years ago. Following the film and discussion of the future of the Big U will be a cocktail reception, and, at 12:30pm, the luncheon itself.

Space is limited, so please reserve your space in advance!  Full tables in addition to individual seats may be reserved. Contact barlow@sciphiladelphia.org for information or to make a reservation! We are very excited about this special event, and we hope to see you there!  Our heartiest congratulations to John Reynolds!

Students in Stephen Marsh’s Graphic Design & Commercial Arts class at Union High School in Union, New Jersey, have taken the mantra to heart. In early 2011, Marsh’s class, including Clayton Shaw, Matthew Ruiz, Anthony Alulema, Matt Massarelli, Kevin Cordova and Kunal Chawla spent over three months recreating the Conservancy’s call to arms, originally drawn by Cadet Stephanie Biddle of SUNY Maritime College, in brilliantly carved and decorated wood.

Stephen Marsh had brought a copy of the poster into his classroom, and, his students, upon hearing the history of the ship, were immediately inspired. They spoke of the elegance of the SS United States, and the engineering marvel that she represented. The ship was an emblem of pride in workmanship, and Marsh’s students did her proud. Over the course of the class, they traced the poster and etched it into wood, drilling out holes for pinpoint lights to illuminate the carving. The funnels even smoke!

The final product was breathtaking, and a real wonder.

On February 3rd of this year, Stephen Marsh and his students presented the carving to the SS United States Conservancy in a ceremony at Union High School. Steven Ujifusa, the Conservancy’s Development Associate, and Susan Caccavale, a member of the Board of Directors, accepted the gift. Ujifusa and Caccavale gave a joint presentation on the history and meaning of the SS United States to over 100 students. Ujifusa talked about the SS United States as representing an era when America built great things, as well as the story of a young man who followed his dreams. Caccavale talked about her mother Elaine Kaplan, a pioneering female engineer who designed the ship’s propellers and was the only female engineer on the Gibbs & Cox SS United States design team.

News12 New Jersey and TV34 of Union, New Jersey covered the event.

The Conservancy is incredibly grateful for this gift – humbled by the hard work and dedication, and inspired by the pride in their work that Stephen Marsh and his students have displayed.

Click here to view the Union TV34 interview with Marsh, his students, and Conservancy representatives Caccavale and Ujifusa.

Clean and obsolete metal that will not be used in the vessel's ultimate configuration and might hamper renovations is being removed for recycling. This will facilitate the restoration of her interior when a viable redevelopment contract is signed.

To be a part of this important step in the ship's redevelopment, please become a member of the SS United States Conservancy today!

The Conservancy has laid an extensive amount of groundwork in 2011 for the ship's redevelopment, but the ship is not saved. While we have made significant developmental progress in the past year, the fact remains that if a viable real estate deal and our organizational fundraising goals are not reached by the end of 2012, the ship will be sold and broken up for scrap.

That means we need your help.  Please become a paying member of the SS United States Conservancy today.

The SS United States Conservancy has begun the process of cultivating many new donors — individuals, foundations, and corporate donors. The Conservancy has identified over 140 foundations for priority outreach, as well as begun development of a new "Corporate Flagship Council" for corporate sponsorships. In addition, the SS United States Redevelopment Project has identified several potential partners in both New York and Miami and is continuing to hone in on the best possible opportunity for the ship's redevelopment as a financially sustainable waterfront attraction.

Gearing up for the ship's 60th Anniversary in our "make-or-break" year, the Conservancy has many exciting plans for the upcoming year to bolster awareness for the ship, for our mission, and to help us attain our ultimate goal of restoration. Among these plans are:

• Unveiling a brand-new documentary highlighting the ship's history and the Conservancy's mission, SS United States: Made in America
• Releasing a made-for-television Public Service Announcement, featuring Super Bowl-winning head coach Dick Vermeil
• Unveiling a new museum installation at the Forbes Gallery in New York City in May, 2012 as a preview for our larger shipboard museum planning efforts
• Hosting several new member cultivation events, including a gala in New York City in celebration of the 60th Anniversary of the ship's maiden voyage
• Launching an interactive, online, grassroots fundraising campaign — "Paint the Big Ship"
• Holding a ceremonial lighting and painting of the ship's funnels

All of these plans coincide with the Conservancy's main effort to raise funds for the vessel's historic redevelopment, and support the mission of the SS United States Redevelopment Project to ensure the ship's sustainable future. The Conservancy needs your help to continue to develop these plans and make sure that 2012 will see a successful redevelopment of the SS United States. We have a great opportunity before us, but a failure to realize it by the end of this year means that opportunity will be lost forever. Please become a member of the SS United States Conservancy today.  Your contribution will help preserve America's flagship for future generations.

Together, we can change history. Together, we WILL save the SS United States!

The film, a successor the award-winning film SS United States: Lady in Waiting produced by Bob Radler and Conservancy board member Mark Perry, includes extensive new footage and tells the riveting story of the SS United States past and present. After the film screening, Susan will deliver a short presentation on the SS United States Conservancy's ongoing to quest to preserve the record-breaking liner as well as share a few stories about her grandfather William Francis Gibbs, the ship's designer.

As a special treat to accompany the program, the Mariners' Museum Collections Department will be exhibiting original table, chairs, and place settings from the SS United States. A light reception will follow the screening and presentation. The event is free of charge. We look forward to seeing many of you there!

For more information on this event, please click here.

A new exhibition presents a haunting juxtaposition of the Big U’s glamorous past and her faded present. Memorabilia and prints of Kodachrome photographs, commemorating the ship’s heyday, are set in sharp contrast to five large-scale photographs of the SS United States as she is today.

Richard Williams, Professor of Contemporary Visual Cultures and Dean of Postgraduate Studies at the University of Edinburgh, is the architect of this exhibit. Although documenting the present of the SS United States fits well with his academic interest in contemporary urbanism, Williams has a deeper and more personal claim to the ship.

Born in the United States, Williams’ parents brought him back to the United Kingdom aboard the SS United States. “It's my creation myth!” Williams says of that trip, and it sparked a lifelong love for and fascination with the ship. In 2010, he had the opportunity to revisit the SS United States. Coming face to face with the icon of his youth, he says, “was an extremely strange experience - seeing something so familiar in image, but for the first time in real life.”

Williams had brought his camera, and the weather, fortunately, obliged. His photographs thoughtfully documented a weary and forlorn SS United States, and formed the backbone of the exhibition. But perhaps more poignant, by contrast, are the prints of old Kodachromes – documenting Williams’ and his parents’ transatlantic trip in 1967.

To our constituency across the Atlantic: Richard Williams’ exhibit at the Stills Gallery will be up through March 18th, 2012. More information can be found here.

For those of us on this side of the Atlantic: Richard Williams has written an article for the UK's Blueprint Magazine, summarizing his experience with the SS United States and featuring some of his photography, which may be found here.

SSUSC New York Chapter "Big U Holiday Happening"
Soldiers', Sailors', Marines', Coast Guard and Airmens' Club
283 Lexington Avenue
New York, NY 10016-3540
Thursday, December 15, 2011 from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM (ET)
RSVP at http://nycssuscholidays2011.eventbrite.com/

SSUSC Washington, DC Chapter Holiday Party
At SS United States Conservancy executive director Susan Gibbs' private residence in NW Washington, DC
Thursday, December 15, 2011
For more information and to RSVP, email the Conservancy at info@ssusc.org

Admission costs go to the Conservancy's efforts to restore the SS United States.

The SS United States Conservancy has released, on pre-sale, the latest yearly wall calendar featuring the SS United States, this year commemorating 60th Anniversary of the ship's maiden voyage in 1952. Celebrate this milestone by following the SS United States on a voyage across the Atlantic — from boarding in New York City, steaming down the Hudson River, racing through the open ocean, docking in Southampton and Le Havre, and then speeding back home. Filled with facts, including notations on important dates in the ship's history. A must-have for any ship lover, history buff, or both! To order, please visit our online store. Calendars are $25 each, and payment is accepted through PayPal, credit card, or mail-in check.

Conservancy donors are inspired by the SS United States for many reasons. In explaining her recent $10,000 gift, Marie Prewett writes, "Especially in times like these, we must save a symbol of America's perseverance and resilience... For future generations, she represents the ability that we once had, then let drift away, but can — and will — reclaim."

As always, to make a tax-deductible donation in support of the Conservancy's predevelopment and historic preservation efforts, please click here.

One major focus of the Conservancy's fundraising efforts is our future shipboard museum. I recently delivered a presentation to the International Congress of Maritime Museums, a gathering of museum executives from 22 countries. Panels examined evolving museum visitor expectations, new revenue models, and trends in innovative interactive exhibits. The Conservancy recently launched its own curatorial planning process: What stories should our museum tell? What can the SS United States teach us about the American dream? Our Cold War history? Advances in steam propulsion? The immigrant experience? The "Mad Men" era? We look forward to receiving your thoughts and suggestions as we continue to refine our curatorial plans.

We always love hearing from Conservancy supporters. Eight-year-old Elliot Lehmann recently wrote to tell us to tell us not to scrap the SS United States. He asked us to "look out for the ship carefully. There are no more German U-boats or sea mines. There may be icebergs. If there are, just be careful. And turn in time."

Elliot Lehmann: We vow to turn the ship in time. And we promise to work our hearts out to save the SS United States for your generation and those that follow behind.

Susan Gibbs
Executive Director
SS United States Conservancy

Stephen S. Lash is Chairman Emeritus of Christie's Americas and Vice Chairman of Christie's American Advisory Board. He has been with Christie's since 1976, when he was one of the original team of eight responsible for launching the venerable auction house's first galleries on Park Avenue in New York City. Prior to joining Christie's, Mr. Lash worked in London with the investment-banking firm of S.G. Warburg. During his 35 years with Christie's, he has been involved with virtually every major historic record-setting auction. Mr. Lash serves on the boards of the Museum of the City of New York, The New York Landmarks Conservancy (of which he was Chairman for several years), the Park Avenue Armory, and the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts, where he is on the Board of Overseers and Chairs the Maritime Visiting Committee. He previously served on the boards of the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission and the Preservation League of New York State. He is a newly appointed Trustee of the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, as well as a newly appointed Member of the Advisory Board of Stanhope Capital in London. His passion for all things maritime inspired him to become the founder and first president of the Ocean Liner Museum, which became part of the South Street Seaport. He is an avid collector of trans-Atlantic passenger steamship memorabilia, and has loaned items from his collection to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, as well as to the Cooper Hewitt, Mystic Seaport, Peabody Essex, and Forbes museums. Mr. Lash enjoys lecturing on board various vessels and at other venues; a favorite speech includes The Floating Palaces of Art Deco. He has also taught a Residential College Seminar at Yale, entitled The Ocean Liner and the Golden Age of Travel. Mr. Lash received a B.A. in French Literature from Yale and an M.B.A. in International Business from Columbia.

Mark Byers is a vice president and senior relationship manager at Wilmington Trust Company responsible for managing high-net worth family relationships throughout the United States. Prior to joining Wilmington Trust in 2002, he worked in New York for the Swiss investment bank UBS Warburg. Mark's international experience includes five years in Moscow, Russia, as a business development director for a Moscow-based joint venture. As a veteran of the United States Army, Mark worked in Intelligence and served in Operation Desert Storm in the Persian Gulf War. Mark holds an MBA in International Management from Thunderbird, The Garvin Graduate School of International Management, and is a magna cum laude graduate of Portland State University with a bachelor's degree in Economics. Mark is a member of the Philadelphia CFA Society where he serves on the Board of Directors as a vice president and is also chairman of the Society's Career Development Committee.

Robert L. Forbes is Vice President of Forbes and President of ForbesLife, launched in 1990 as Forbes magazine's dedicated lifestyle supplement, devoted to the pursuit of "civilized pleasure and fulfillment." Published five times a year, it is designed for affluent business leaders who "play as hard as they work." Mr. Forbes has authored numerous articles on food and travel, in addition to producing various documentary films for Forbes. In September 2007, his book of poetry for children, Beastly Feasts! A Mischievous Menagerie in Rhyme (Overlook Press), was published. His new book, Let's Have a Bite! A Beastly Banquet in Rhyme, was published by Overlook Press in September 2010. Both are illustrated by world renowned caricaturist Ronald Searle. He divides his time between Manhattan and Palm Beach, Florida.

Dr. Prewett hopes that her generous gift to our organization will inspire others to contribute to the preservation of this irreplaceable national treasure for future generations:

For me the SS United States represents much more than just an engineering marvel. She represents a time when America could always improve upon existing technology and make it better, faster, and more efficient. We had the talent to take the design successes and failures of the past, learn from them, and distill that knowledge into something new and special. "Made in America" meant solid engineering and durable quality. For future generations she represents ability that we once had, let drift away, but can and will reclaim. After long consideration I've decided to help toward the preservation of the SS United States because, especially in times like these, we need to save a symbol of America's perseverance and resilience.

Congratulations to our newest Blue Riband Council member! Together, we can indeed change history.

To read Prewett's complete statement, click here.

sales@marpubs.demon.co.uk or visit www.lesstreater.com.

Streater has very graciously offered to donate 10 percent of the book's sale proceeds to the SS United States Conservancy. The Conservancy is delighted to spread the word on this comprehensive work on our great ship. Streater was meticulous in his research for the book and has assembled an extraordinary collection of vintage photographs to accompany his riveting narrative.

The Conservancy was fortunate enough to be introduced to Les Streater by Carl Weber, administrator of the SS United States Yahoo Group, a long-time friend of the organization. We are grateful to both Carl and Les for their ongoing support.

I recently discussed latest developments at the World Ship Society Port of New York Branch meeting.  The upshot is that we are gaining momentum, attracting influential supporters, and looking into more detailed possibilities for the ship.  New York remains our primary proposed site for redevelopment.

In the next several weeks, we'll be making several significant announcements about the way ahead.  I think you'll find the news both positive and realistic.

As always, thank you for your interest and support.  If you have any questions about the business/investment side of "Saving Our Ship," please don't hesitate to contact me.

Best regards,

Dan McSweeney
dmcsweeney@logatl.com