Common Cents: Is The CSS Neuse Museum Pork Or Practical?

A $2 billion budget shortfall and cutbacks across the board is the crisis that faces North Carolina.

Yet, there are still some questionable projects on the state's to do list.

And, you're paying for them.

Budget watchdogs say the state is doling out $205 million this year alone on what they consider wasteful projects and programs.

One of those is a museum for the CSS Neuse.

It's a project that's been years in the making and now on the fast track.

And, our common cents are paying for it.

"It isn't the best, ideal situation for it to be in a climate-controlled environment,” said Morris Bass, CSS Neuse Assistant Site Manager.

That’s what Morris Bass says about the remains of the CSS Neuse.

It’s exposed to the elements under cover at the Richard Caswell Memorial and has been in danger of decay ever since being pulled from the Neuse River in 1963.

It's one of two confederate ironclads still around today.

And, it stands alone as the only one ever commissioned.

"It is more than a boat. It's the state's largest artifact, so it is well worth being preserved," said John Marston, Gunboat Association Executive Board Member.

That's been the plan for years.

Now, the Gunboat Association's about to get its wish.

The old ironclad will move to a new home indoors into an air conditioned building in downtown Kinston.

It will be the centerpiece of a museum that will also feature about 15,000 artifacts from the gunboat and nearby Civil War battlefields.

The lot that will eventually be home to the Neuse could have a groundbreaking this spring

The hope is to have the building ready by 2011.
Private donations paid for the land, but ownership was transferred to the state at the end of last year.

That means it's now up to the taxpayers to pick up the rest of the tab.

And, that's not cheap.

North Carolina’s committed to sinking in more than $9 million to complete the project, $3 million this year alone.

Almost all of the current amount to be paid for with a bond issue.

"What do you say to people who think this is one big waste of money?" asked this reporter.

"Well, people have been saying that for a number of years, but they've stopped all of a sudden," Marston said.

Not exactly.

Brian Balfour is a budget watchdog for the Civitas Group in Raleigh.

"It's basically a tourist attraction," said Brian Balfour, Civitas Institute Budget Policy Analyst.

"Does government have no role in preserving history?" asked this reporter.

"I think at most it should be pretty limited. I think people should be able to determine for themselves what they value," Balfour said.

Marston says the value will be money from tourism, especially, when the museum is connected to the restoration of Civil War battlefields.

All of it should have a spillover effect in the revitalization of downtown Kinston.

"It is mindboggling the people that travel to see history," Marston said.

"If you move government from the equation, there can be a much more thriving non-profit sector that would, that would be stewards of cultural heritage. And, it would still thrive," Balfour said.

“What about some of the highways to nowhere, you know, that have been built. No, this is a project that hopefully will bring in tourism dollars to stimulate the economy some more, not just here, but all over North Carolina," Marston said.

The Gunboat Association hopes to model the success of the Civil War Naval Museum in Port Columbus, Georgia.

It features the only other surviving confederate ironclad.

That museum's director says it had 25,000 paid admissions last year and brought in revenues of $400,000 from ticket sales and the gift shop.

North Carolina's looking to float something like it with $9 million dollars of our common cents.