Hawaii’s USS Arizona Memorial reopens after 15-month repair
Posted September 1, 2019 9:09 pm.
HONOLULU — The USS Arizona Memorial has welcomed large crowds to its reopening after 15 months of repairs.
Hawaii News Now reported the memorial received thousands of sightseers Sunday for the first time since its closure by the National Park Service in May 2018.
Pearl Harbor National Memorial Acting Superintendent Steve Mietz says workers “had to rebuild the system from scratch” to allow safe access.
Exceptionally high tides in 2017 are believed to have dislodged concrete blocks sunk into Pearl Harbor’s sediment and connected by chains to the dock.
The repair project cost more than $2.1 million.
U.S. Rep. Ed Case says he worked with Hawaii’s congressional leaders to speed the project.
Officials say visitor traffic to the national park decreased by about 30% after the memorial’s closure.
___
Information from: KGMB-TV, http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/
The Associated Press
