Eagle3
03-25-04, 12:08 PM
San Diego Union Tribune (http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20040302-9999-1m2midway.html)
By Ronald W. Powell
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
March 2, 2004
During a 30-year Navy career, retired Rear Adm. Mac McLaughlin was commanding officer of a helicopter squadron and the New Orleans Naval Air Station, as well as a survivor of two stints in the epicenter of the nation's defense, the Pentagon.
But his new job as chief operating officer of the San Diego Aircraft Carrier Museum is hardly a breather.
"It's the challenge of my life," cLaughlin said last week. "And I'm enjoying it."
McLaughlin is steering preparations for the carrier Midway's anticipated June debut as the world's largest floating naval aviation museum. The 968-foot-long carrier is anchored in its permanent home at Navy Pier on San Diego's North Embarcadero.
As opening day nears, McLaughlin is juggling multiple tasks.
He is a manager, supervising work crews as they paint, plumb, wire and weld.
He is a businessman, making sure the work comes in on budget.
He is a public relations man, meeting with civic groups, corporate heads, military organizations and anyone else who can help the museum succeed.
"I want to make this the flagship of naval museums," said McLaughlin, 52. "I feel a real responsibility to San Diego. I don't think a (retired) Navy ship has ever been allowed to have the kind of location we have. This is a historic project."
Well-traveled path
Partly because it's moored near the Port District's cruise ship terminal and along a well-traveled path for tourists, museum officials are confident the Midway will be a popular attraction. Ticket prices will average about $10.50, with lower prices for seniors, children and military. The nonprofit museum group expects to draw 440,000 visitors the first year and inject $20 million annually into the local economy. Much of the museum's income will come from a sleepover program, scheduled to start in September, that will allow scouting groups and others to bunk overnight for a fee.
Corporate and other events will bring additional revenue. Museum spokesman Scott McGaugh said more than 200 meeting planners have asked about dates the Midway would be available for events, some as distant as 2006.
A value beyond priceYet McLaughlin said he believes the Midway's value to the San Diego region will go far beyond the dollars it generates. The U.S. Naval Academy graduate said the vessel should serve as an academic laboratory for students in kindergarten through high school. He wants to develop an educational curriculum that shows the practical application of mathematic or scientific computations. Taking the equations from a classroom to the vessel's tactical flag command center, where pulsing radar and other equipment is housed, may help bring the work to life.
It was from the Midway's tactical flag command center that Adm. Dan March launched the first warplanes for Operation Desert Storm in January 1991.
"This is our hallmark responsibility," McLaughlin said of the education project.
Although that idea is in the formative stage, the nuts-and-bolts work is in full swing.
A fire-detection and fire-sprinkler system are being installed. The 4-acre flight deck is being cleaned up and repainted.
A 3½-foot-high fence will be installed around the flight deck's perimeter as a safety precaution. The fence will stretch the length of about nine football fields.
Volunteers are being trained to serve as docents. McLaughlin said he plans to hire about 40 full-time employees, but most of the day-to-day work will be handled by more than 200 volunteers. The docents will share their experiences of life aboard a warship while leading museum tours.
McLaughlin said the museum will succeed because of crack employees such as retired Navy Cmdr. Pete Clayton. As the Midway's chief engineer, Clayton has overseen its renovations.
There was much to do because the vessel sat in the rainy waters off Bremerton, Wash., for more than 11 years after its decommissioning in 1992.
"We're running ahead of schedule," Clayton said of the maintenance and repair work.
McLaughlin trusts the work will be completed on time. The son of a career Navy man who lived in Africa, France and the East Coast before embarking on his own Navy career, McLaughlin said his civilian job is a perfect fit. It allows him to use his years of military experience in a civilian forum.
He retired from the Navy in August and returned to the San Diego area where he was once stationed with wife, Nora, a Chula Vista native, and their two children. It wasn't long before retired Rear Adm. Riley Mixson, the carrier museum's executive director, asked McLaughlin about taking the chief operating officer's job.
His first day on the job was Dec. 1.
Last weekend, he was in Corpus Christi, Texas, visiting a museum on the aircraft carrier Lexington. He wants to incorporate the winning parts of that museum into the Midway's operations.
Paying its way
The aircraft carrier museum is a San Diego Unified Port District tenant. For rent, it will pay 4 percent of its food and beverage sales, with port officials expecting to receive about $40,000 in the first year. Additionally, the Port District expects to reap $700,000 in annual parking revenue. Some museums established on retired Navy ships have struggled financially. Before donating the Midway to the museum group last year, the Navy required the rganization to have a $500,000 contingency fund to cover the cost of towing if the project goes bust.
For McLaughlin, failure is not an option.
He is focusing on having the grand opening of the museum in early June to commemorate the 62nd anniversary of the battle of Midway, for which the carrier is named. The naval battle was fought June 4-7, 1942, near the Midway Islands in the Pacific. It ended with a U.S. victory, plus sea superiority in the Pacific theater for the remainder of World War II.
McLaughlin said he is excited about the museum's future. He said he is finding the same sense of excitement when talking to community groups.
"There is a real pent-up anticipation of the opening," he concludes from that..
By Ronald W. Powell
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
March 2, 2004
During a 30-year Navy career, retired Rear Adm. Mac McLaughlin was commanding officer of a helicopter squadron and the New Orleans Naval Air Station, as well as a survivor of two stints in the epicenter of the nation's defense, the Pentagon.
But his new job as chief operating officer of the San Diego Aircraft Carrier Museum is hardly a breather.
"It's the challenge of my life," cLaughlin said last week. "And I'm enjoying it."
McLaughlin is steering preparations for the carrier Midway's anticipated June debut as the world's largest floating naval aviation museum. The 968-foot-long carrier is anchored in its permanent home at Navy Pier on San Diego's North Embarcadero.
As opening day nears, McLaughlin is juggling multiple tasks.
He is a manager, supervising work crews as they paint, plumb, wire and weld.
He is a businessman, making sure the work comes in on budget.
He is a public relations man, meeting with civic groups, corporate heads, military organizations and anyone else who can help the museum succeed.
"I want to make this the flagship of naval museums," said McLaughlin, 52. "I feel a real responsibility to San Diego. I don't think a (retired) Navy ship has ever been allowed to have the kind of location we have. This is a historic project."
Well-traveled path
Partly because it's moored near the Port District's cruise ship terminal and along a well-traveled path for tourists, museum officials are confident the Midway will be a popular attraction. Ticket prices will average about $10.50, with lower prices for seniors, children and military. The nonprofit museum group expects to draw 440,000 visitors the first year and inject $20 million annually into the local economy. Much of the museum's income will come from a sleepover program, scheduled to start in September, that will allow scouting groups and others to bunk overnight for a fee.
Corporate and other events will bring additional revenue. Museum spokesman Scott McGaugh said more than 200 meeting planners have asked about dates the Midway would be available for events, some as distant as 2006.
A value beyond priceYet McLaughlin said he believes the Midway's value to the San Diego region will go far beyond the dollars it generates. The U.S. Naval Academy graduate said the vessel should serve as an academic laboratory for students in kindergarten through high school. He wants to develop an educational curriculum that shows the practical application of mathematic or scientific computations. Taking the equations from a classroom to the vessel's tactical flag command center, where pulsing radar and other equipment is housed, may help bring the work to life.
It was from the Midway's tactical flag command center that Adm. Dan March launched the first warplanes for Operation Desert Storm in January 1991.
"This is our hallmark responsibility," McLaughlin said of the education project.
Although that idea is in the formative stage, the nuts-and-bolts work is in full swing.
A fire-detection and fire-sprinkler system are being installed. The 4-acre flight deck is being cleaned up and repainted.
A 3½-foot-high fence will be installed around the flight deck's perimeter as a safety precaution. The fence will stretch the length of about nine football fields.
Volunteers are being trained to serve as docents. McLaughlin said he plans to hire about 40 full-time employees, but most of the day-to-day work will be handled by more than 200 volunteers. The docents will share their experiences of life aboard a warship while leading museum tours.
McLaughlin said the museum will succeed because of crack employees such as retired Navy Cmdr. Pete Clayton. As the Midway's chief engineer, Clayton has overseen its renovations.
There was much to do because the vessel sat in the rainy waters off Bremerton, Wash., for more than 11 years after its decommissioning in 1992.
"We're running ahead of schedule," Clayton said of the maintenance and repair work.
McLaughlin trusts the work will be completed on time. The son of a career Navy man who lived in Africa, France and the East Coast before embarking on his own Navy career, McLaughlin said his civilian job is a perfect fit. It allows him to use his years of military experience in a civilian forum.
He retired from the Navy in August and returned to the San Diego area where he was once stationed with wife, Nora, a Chula Vista native, and their two children. It wasn't long before retired Rear Adm. Riley Mixson, the carrier museum's executive director, asked McLaughlin about taking the chief operating officer's job.
His first day on the job was Dec. 1.
Last weekend, he was in Corpus Christi, Texas, visiting a museum on the aircraft carrier Lexington. He wants to incorporate the winning parts of that museum into the Midway's operations.
Paying its way
The aircraft carrier museum is a San Diego Unified Port District tenant. For rent, it will pay 4 percent of its food and beverage sales, with port officials expecting to receive about $40,000 in the first year. Additionally, the Port District expects to reap $700,000 in annual parking revenue. Some museums established on retired Navy ships have struggled financially. Before donating the Midway to the museum group last year, the Navy required the rganization to have a $500,000 contingency fund to cover the cost of towing if the project goes bust.
For McLaughlin, failure is not an option.
He is focusing on having the grand opening of the museum in early June to commemorate the 62nd anniversary of the battle of Midway, for which the carrier is named. The naval battle was fought June 4-7, 1942, near the Midway Islands in the Pacific. It ended with a U.S. victory, plus sea superiority in the Pacific theater for the remainder of World War II.
McLaughlin said he is excited about the museum's future. He said he is finding the same sense of excitement when talking to community groups.
"There is a real pent-up anticipation of the opening," he concludes from that..