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Grand Central Terminal, New York City. Photo courtesy of Eric Baetscher. |
Grand Central Terminal, New York City's elaborate Beaux-Arts icon, marked its 100th anniversary this past week. A number of celebrations were held in the building's honor, and the occasion garnered national press coverage.
It would be impossible to imagine New York without Grand Central. But on this festive occasion, it's important to remember that this historic building almost didn't make it past its 60th year. In 1968, the building's owner unveiled plans for its demolition. It was only through the outrage of New Yorkers and preservationists across the nation that elected officials stepped in and declared Grand Central a landmark.
Today, Grand Central Terminal is "the world's number six most visited tourist attraction", bringing in approximately 21,600,000 visitors annually, according to TravelLeisure magazine. Grand Central is a perfect example of how historic structures - declared "dated" and "useless" by some - can be revived as beautiful icons and powerful economic engines. The SS United States holds the same potential.
As Kent Barwick, a member of the Conservancy's Advisory Council who played a lead role in saving Grand Central Terminal, said recently: "I hope we'll see the day when saving our great ships is as obvious as saving our great buildings."
Please join us in saving America's Flagship and launching our Center for Design and Discovery. Please help us convey the ship's enormous potential to our elected officials, potential supporters, and business partners before it's too late.
Support our efforts to Rescue and Restore the SS United States
Also in this Issue:
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 See It Now! SS United States: Made in America
Film
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We've partnered with director Bob Radler to bring you a new five-part documentary, SS United States: Made in America, which will make an exclusive online premiere beginning in this month. This spectacular new release, a follow-up to SS United States: Lady in Waiting (2008), includes incredible footage of the ship, both in her heyday and in her current state, as well as interviews with former passengers, crew, maritime experts, and Conservancy leadership.
The film will be released in five parts, with Chapter One AVAILABLE NOW on our website. Click here to view Chapter One of the series.
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CBS Sunday Morning Story Rescheduled for February 17
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CBS Sunday Morning is doing a special in-depth profile of the SS United States on the February 17 broadcast. (The piece was originally scheduled to run on January 20.). The nationally-broadcast program, hosted by Charles Osgood, will feature beautiful footage of the ship in her heyday, video of the ship as she currently sits in Philadelphia, and interviews with Conservancy leadership about our plans to revive this national treasure.
Sunday Morning airs 9:00 ET on CBS. Be sure to tune in on Sunday, February 17 - or set your DVR - to set sail aboard the SS United States!
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Successful New York Chapter Meeting
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We're pleased to report an excellent turn-out from our New York Chapter meeting this past Saturday! The meeting was very productive and covered a variety of topics, most notably a series of planned outreach opportunities in New York and northern New Jersey in the upcoming months. If you would like to join the New York chapter or seek more information about New York outreach plans, please email newyork@ssusc.org
If you missed this meeting, we'd love to see you at the next one! Be sure to visit the CHAPTERS page on our website for more on how you can get involved with the Conservancy in your local community.
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SS United States Featured at Morris Museum |
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"Midnight Funnels" by Maria Mijares
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Renowned New Jersey artist Maria Mijares is featured in an exhibition at the Morris Museum in Morristown, NJ, called "Immortal Structures: Here & There After." Included in her paintings are several of the SS United States, including "Midnight Funnels" (above). Maria will present a "Gallery Talk" on Saturday, March 9, at 2:30 pm. The exhibition runs through March 31, 2013 - view the Morris Museum website for more details!
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Update on Conservancy 2013 Wall Calendar Pre-Orders |
We regret to inform you that we have encountered some additional production delays on our 2013 wall calendars. For those who pre-ordered the calendars, the final orders will ship in the next two weeks rather than at the end of January as we had first reported. We apologize profusely for this delay and we thank you in advance for your patience.
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Want more SS United States every day? Be sure to:
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SS United States Conservancy
P.O. Box 32115
Washington, DC 20007
(888)-488-7787
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