Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - As USS The Sullivans continues to list, many people are visiting the park to see for themselves the serious leaning of the starboard side of the historical naval ship.
Some military groups come to Buffalo annually to meet and gaze at the many historical artifacts that Buffalo has to offer, particularly the ones at the Buffalo and Erie County Naval & Military Park, "We have several military groups that meet in Buffalo every year," says President of Visit Buffalo Niagara, Patrick Kaler. "We are a great destination for military groups that convene here and having the Military and Naval Park is an important asset and a huge part of the draw to Buffalo."
Visit Buffalo Niagara has been monitoring social media and there is no question that the residents of Western New York as well as the nation have vocalized there opinions and concerns and are interested to see if this ship can be restored to its original state, "Everyone is interested to see what happens. People are pulling for the restoration of the ship to get it back to where it was so people can get close to see it again," said Kaler.
Fences have been set around the park so they can not get super close to the ships, but that hasn't stopped people from gathering around the park to catch a glimpse of the listing ship. It could easily be speculated that this increase in traffic and social media attention could lead to an increase in donations.
"There are so many people interested and following and I'm sure they're people making very generous contributions to get it back," commented Kaler.
Has there been a "quantifiable" increase in donations to 'Save the Sullivans' in the past several days? The Naval Park would not specifically answer that question, but Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown indicated that there has been, "Everyone is hearing from different entities that want to provide financial support. The Naval Park has heard from many different people, organizations and companies that want to provide a financial support. The city as well has heard from individuals. We've heard from companies. We've heard from elected officials that want to provide financial support."
