by Max Marbut
Staff Writer
Tallahassee is landlocked, but it’s been a regular port of call for members of the Jacksonville Historic Naval Ship Association.
Thursday, members of the organization’s board of directors welcomed Mike Prendergast, executive director of Florida’s Department of Veterans Affairs, to a meeting at the Adams Class Ship Museum at the Landing Downtown.
The association is raising funds to build a pier near the Acosta Bridge and bring the USS Charles F. Adams to the Southbank to serve as a living museum and tourist attraction.
The Adams is a mothballed guided missile destroyer that participated in the blockade of Cuba during the 1962 showdown with the Soviet Union over its nuclear missiles on the island.
The U.S. Navy will donate the vessel if the association can build the pier and present an acceptable business plan for sustaining the ship as a museum.
Holland & Knight Partner Dan Bean is president of the Jacksonville Historic Naval Ship Association. A former surface warfare officer, he served aboard the Adams when it was stationed at Naval Station Mayport.
Bean said Prendergast, a retired U.S. Army colonel, is supportive of the project to bring the historic warship to Jacksonville and offered the board ideas concerning additional sources of support for the campaign.
“He told us he thinks it would be great for the state of Florida,” said Bean. “Visit Florida also wants to help promote the project.”
The association has scheduled its annual gala ball for Oct. 15 when Gov. Rick Scott will present the keynote address.
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