Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - Two months after the historic USS The Sullivans began listing severely in the Buffalo Harbor, some funding from New York State is on its way to ensure the long-term future of the vessel.
It was announced on Tuesday by State Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes that a total of $500,000 of funding allocated to the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York (DASNY) from her state discretionary capital funds will go towards assisting the efforts to fix USS The Sullivans.
"I'm excited to have this opportunity to do that, and I'm excited to have my colleagues joining me, as we all support not just the Naval Park and everything that they have to offer here, but we definitely support this ship right here," said Assemblywoman Peoples-Stokes on Tuesday. "Just a few weeks ago, [the ship] was leaning into water. It is now standing up, and it just shows you where we have to go yet to make it back to the beauty that it definitely deserves."
Also in attendance for Tuesday's announcement at the Buffalo and Erie County Naval and Military Park included State Senator Tim Kennedy, Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz, Chairwoman of the Erie County Legislator April Baskin, Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown and President and CEO of the Buffalo Naval Park Paul Marzello.
Back in early May, the Buffalo Naval Park officially declared the emergency response phase of the mission over, transitioning to a maintenance and decontamination phase. This after crews on-hand for the recovery of the ship had pumped out more than three million gallons of water from the 79-year-old vessel, and plugged 51 holes on the exterior of the ship.
Even today, crews continue to go through the ship pumping out any remaining water in the World War II destroyer, as well as clearing out any potential contaminants from the vessel.
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"While the mission has been accomplished to stop the ship from sinking, to stop the ship from leaning, we still have to pay the bill, and the bill is very, very significant for what was done to save USS The Sullivans, and - as [Poloncarz] said - to make sure that the operation of the Naval Park has the resources that it needs to protect all of these historic military and naval assets that we have here in the City of Buffalo at the Naval Park," said Mayor Brown.
As for Marzello and his team at the Buffalo Naval Park, they expressed their sincerest gratitude to not only the crews that worked tirelessly to right the USS The Sullivans back in place, but also the support staff on-hand for Tuesday's press conference that looked for ways to bring outside help to ensure the longevity of the historic vessel in the Buffalo Harbor.
"We're standing in front of a national historic landmark. She's 80-years-old. She was meant to last about 25 years. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out the math on this one. She needed some help, and it was this unified support team behind me and a lot of other folks that just continually fought to come up with a plan of action to make sure that this ship was righted," said Marzello.
While Marzello says the destroyer is in the best shape of her life, listing at only 0.1% to the starboard side, he knows the work is not over just yet. Much more has to be done to clean out the interior of the vessel in order to re-open the ship for visitors of the Buffalo Naval Park, as well as more structural repairs to the exterior of the ship to ensure any breach will never happen again.
"We had a mantra during that period of time, and I think everybody that was at that seven o'clock meeting knew what that mantra was: 'Failure was not an option.'," Marzello said. "We remember that, and we stand tall today because we look behind us and we see a ship that's standing tall. I want to thank everyone who was a part of that process, and especially this team behind me, led by Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes, and say thank you to all of you sincerely."
More from Tuesday's press conference is available for you in the player below: