Having a Pet Aircraft Carrier

Some of you might remember the efforts made a while back to bring the old aircraft carrier Midway(?) to Humboldt Bay. It was proposed as both a tourist attraction and as a place for businesses and maybe even conventions.

I was skeptical, although the idea was a bit intriguing. I found it hard to believe people would come all the way to Eureka just to see an old aircraft carrier. There were a number of people that really believed in it, though. Regardless, that idea just seemed to go by the wayside, for better or worse.

Can't really say it would have been for better, even after reading a story in today's Times- Standard on the fate of the carrier Hornet. Unfortunately, I can't find the story online but it is available through the T-S' e- edition.

That carrier was finally berthed at Alameda and has been used as a museum of sorts for some time. Apparently, despite some 50,000 visitors per year, the carrier can't make ends meet and hasn't even paid its rent for four years.

As part of the Hornet's reorganization, they hired a Chief Executive Officer. One of the things he wants to do is move the ship over to San Francisco where there's "other historic ships and a tourist base.".

I don't know that we're talking apples vs. oranges here, in regards to having an old carrier berthed in Eureka as opposed to Alameda. They might not be exactly the same thing, but they're pretty close, I would think. If some place like Alameda can't get something like the Hornet to be worth its while, it seems a stretch to think Humboldt Bay could.