The ink is barely dry, but the Battleship Texas took a significant step this week toward moving across the channel to its long-term home at Galveston’s Pier 15.
Hours after installing new officers and members at its annual meeting Tuesday, the Galveston Wharves Board of Trustees approved a motion authorizing the board to pay the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to dredge the area in front of Pier 15 and deposit the spoils in the designated federal placement area on Pelican Island on behalf of the Battleship Texas Foundation, the caretakers of the 114-year-old dreadnought.
The motion also included a cost-sharing agreement between the board and the foundation, under which the foundation would reimburse the board for the full amount of the dredging fees, or slightly more than $434,000.
Brett Milutin, the port’s executive deputy port director and chief operating officer, noted that the Pier 15 dredging would be the Corps’ third and final dredging operation in the channel this year, authorized under Section 217 of the Water Resources Development Act of 1996.
“The only difference with this one than the others is that [the foundation] will be contracting directly with the dredging contractor,” Milutin told the trustees.
Dredging likely to begin in November
The motion carried after very little discussion, with one trustee noting that he was “very excited about this.” Battleship Texas Foundation President and CEO Tony Gregory told Chron on Wednesday that once the wharves board approves the contract, the foundation plans to begin dredging the Pier 15 area in November.
“While this is a bit early, it gives us access to the [Pelican Island] spoil placement location before it closes for maintenance work in December,” Gregory said in a statement.
Replacing the battleship’s decking, a process that has lasted several months, has reached the stern area. (Hunter Miertschin/Battleship Texas Foundation)
On the wharf side of Pier 15, the foundation is awaiting Corps approval to begin construction of the battleship’s mooring infrastructure, Vice President of Operations and Chief Operating Officer Travis Davis told Chron earlier this month.
Meanwhile, deck-laying of 3.5-inch planks has reached the warship’s stern area, according to the latest restoration update on the foundation’s website. And just in time for folks who like to get a jump on holiday shopping, handcrafted Texas-shaped paperweights made from the ship’s original World War I-era steel, salvaged during repairs a century later, are now for sale.
The Battleship Texas restoration project costs around $75 million, most of that provided by the taxpayers of Texas.
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This article originally published at Galveston trustees approve dredging agreement for Battleship Texas.