KMXT 100.1 FM Public Radio in Kodiak, Alaska
Jay Barrett/KMXT
A retired U.S. Coast Guard Cutter with a long history in Alaska has been added to the National Register of Historic Places.
The cutter Storis, which was stationed in Kodiak for 50 years, has been mothballed in California since being retired in 2007. Since that time, a group has been lobbying the government to make the ship a floating museum in Juneau.
Alaska Senator Mark Begich said last week that he’s working to bring the Storis back to Alaska by inserting language into the Coast Guard reauthorization bill, though another senator has so far blocked his efforts.
— (Storis 1 :21 “We had one member on the other … into the bill we passed.”)
With the new session underway, Begich says he’ll be working with the Coast Guard to keep the Storis from being turned into scrap.
— (Storis 2 :17 “The Coast Guard clearly … turned into a chunk of metal.”)
The Storis, known as the "Queen of the Fleet" when it was stationed in Kodiak, was the first U.S. vessel to circumnavigate North America when it and two other Coast Guard cutters sailed the Northwest Passage. Being named to the National Register of Historic Places is a designation that the Storis is a property deemed worthy of preservation.
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