After 93 Years, Titanic May Arrive Here

By Ronald Drenger

The Titanic never made it to New York, but portions of the ship and artifacts salvaged from the sunken wreck may be given a permanent home in Lower Manhattan.

A 17-ton section of the boat, shown here being lifted from the Atlantic. It would become part of a Titanic Museum on Pier A if the owners of the artifacts have their way.

RMS Titanic, Inc., the Atlanta-based company that owns salvage rights to the famous ship, hopes to finalize a deal soon to create a 20,000-square-foot Titanic museum in the three-story landmark building on Pier A next to Battery Park.

The museum would feature a 17-ton section of the ship's hull, a recreation of the liner's grand staircase connecting the building's second and third floors, and an artificial iceberg. Rotating exhibits would include other pieces of the ship and personal items from passengers, such as letters, diaries, luggage and clothing, that have been brought up from the Titanic and preserved. The ship sank on April 15, 1912, and lies more than two miles below the Atlantic Ocean's surface.


"There have been a lot of conversations about where a permanent home should be," said Arnie Geller, president and CEO of RMS Titanic, and a former Battery Park City

resident. "Some have argued it should be in Belfast, where the ship was built. But we're so close with Pier A, and it's our first choice.

"The story is about the people who were coming to this country, to New York, to start a new life. My personal and strong belief is that the right place for it is in New York Harbor, where the people migrating would have seen the Statue of Liberty as they arrived. It belongs in New York, and someday, somehow, we're going to get there."

RMS Titanic, which would sign a 42-year lease at Pier A, has tentatively worked out key details of the museum with Wings Point, the firm that is redeveloping the pier. But Wings Point is also considering creating dining and event space on the upper floors of the 1886 building, instead of the museum.

Wings Points is currently trying to close a deal for the National Park Service to move security screenings for Liberty and Ellis Island visitors from temporary tents on the Battery Park promenade into the first floor of the Pier A's 1886 building.

Titanic, which sank in April, 1912.
1st class crystal decanters

"Until we resolve everything with the Park Service, we can't know how much space we'll have left," said Tom Ickovic, a partner at Wings Point. "But we think the museum is a great fit. It would be attractive to both tourists and New Yorkers, and it appeals to kids and adults." Many tourists waiting for their ferries to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island would visit the museum, he said.


Pier A is also three blocks from the building on Broadway where White Star Line, the Titanic's owner, had its offices in 1912.

RMS Titanic, a publicly traded company, has brought up more than 5,500 items from the wreck in seven salvage expeditions since 1987. The company manages seven traveling exhibitions of Titanic artifacts, which have

drawn more than 15 million visitors and broken attendance records at several museums, according to Geller.

"There are some fantastic objects that are too fragile to travel, but could be exhibited in a permanent home," Geller said.

RMS Titanic first suggested the museum to Wings Point soon after Wings Point was designated as Pier A's developer in 1988. At the time, Wings Point had other plans, but the museum idea was revived after the developer began negotiations with the National Park Service a couple of years ago.

"We've been standing by, waiting for go-ahead ever since," Geller said. He said that it would take about a year to create the museum once the project got the green light.
RMS Titanic plans its next salvage expedition for the summer of 2006. But some Titanic buffs and maritime historians, including Robert Ballard, who led the team that 		found the ship in 1985, have argued that the wreck is a gravesite and should be left alone.
3rd class mug and plate

Double doorknob
RMS Titanic has also faced legal and financial troubles since it won salvage rights from a U.S. Federal Court in Virginia in 1994. The court obligated the company to keep the collection together and to exhibit the artifacts to the public, but the company has been accused of seeking ways to sell off artifacts piecemeal, and of doing a subpar preservation job, charges that Geller adamantly denied. The company has been plagued by internal management battles, a depressed stock price, and a shareholder lawsuit.

"I'd be lying if I said we didn't have any concern," Ickovic said. "But we're watching what's going on. If it were to become an issue of serious economic problems, we won't have them as tenants. But by the time we're ready to sign up with them, hopefully they will have resolution. From what I've heard from other sources, things are working out right with them."

In deciding on the museum as a tenant, Wings Point must also consider whether interest in the Titanic will remain strong enough to continue attracting large crowds.

"If demand decreases," Geller said " we could reduce size of the Titanic exhibit and then make the venue available for other traveling exhibitions."
Porthole