USS Wyoming model may ship out of Casper to National Museum of Military Vehicles forever

USS Wyoming (AG-17) ship crew portrait, taken circa 1932. Her Commanding Officer, Captain Benjamin Dutton, is seated within the middle of the entrance row of officers. Seated by his aspect are the Govt Officer, Commander Rufus King, and Lieutenant Commander Wilder D. Baker. Assortment of Vice Admiral Wilder D. Baker, USN (Retired). (U.S. Naval Historical past and Heritage Command {Photograph}.)

CASPER, Wyo. — An 11-foot mannequin of the united statesWyoming may transfer out of the Ford Wyoming Heart to the Nationwide Museum of Navy Autos in Dubois if the Casper Metropolis Council comply with the thought.

The mannequin of the battleship moved to the Casper Occasions Heart (now Ford Wyoming Heart) in 1998 and is on mortgage to the town by the U.S. Navy, in line with a memo from Metropolis of Casper employees. Within the late Nineties, an effort to carry the mannequin ship to Wyoming was spearheaded by Robert Stanley Lowe, a member of the Wyoming Council of the Navy League of the US.

Whereas the Occasions Heart was initially thought-about an excellent place for guests to see the mannequin “the fact of the mannequin’s relationship to guests on the occasion middle has modified,” the memo from Parks Director Zulima Lopez, Recreation Supervisor Phil Moya and Fort Caspar Museum Supervisor Rick Younger states.

“The 11-foot mannequin takes up a major quantity of concourse house, placing it in fixed hazard of harm from crowds transferring by way of the constructing throughout giant occasions,” the memo states. “Motionless, the mannequin is usually walled off by drapes throughout giant occasions , to guard it from mishandling. Few truly get to see it.”

Metropolis employees started researching choices to relocate the mannequin to a museum in late 2021 after metropolis and Oak View Group (previously Spectra Venue Administration) employees, who handle the Ford Wyoming Heart for the town, agreed that ought to occur.

Workers analysis led to the thought to maneuver the mannequin to the Nationwide Museum of Navy Autos as it’s a 140,000 sq. foot facility devoted to displaying navy gear. The museum additionally plans to construct an exhibit room devoted particularly to the united statesS. Wyoming, in line with the memo.

“The museum and the Navy are excited for the potential partnership, and paperwork has been initiated for the switch,” the memo provides.

One impediment the town council will likely be requested to think about earlier than authorizing the transfer of the ship — Lowe wrote a letter to former Casper Metropolis Supervisor John Patterson on 2013 asking for assurances the mannequin by no means be moved from the Occasions Heart. Patterson responded and mentioned mannequin would at all times stay on the Occasions Heart.

“Nevertheless, in 2013, when Mr. Lowe petitioned the Metropolis Supervisor for a everlasting location on the Casper Occasions Heart , few may have envisioned that in 2020, a $100 million Nationwide Museum of Navy Autos would open its doorways in our state,” the town employees memo states.

Lowe died in 2015 so the town is unable to verify whether or not he would approve of the transfer. As well as, most of the organizations who supported Lowe’s efforts to carry the mannequin to Wyoming have disbanded, in line with the memo.

“In his letter to the Metropolis Supervisor, Mr. Lowe references the Wyoming Council of the Navy League of the US, the American Wars Commemorative Affiliation and the Casper Chamber of Commerce’s Navy Affairs
Committee,” the memo states. “To the perfect of our information, all of those organizations have disbanded.”

The American Legion Put up 2 and the Veterans of International Wars Put up 9439, alternatively, stay lively and have expressed assist for the transfer of the mannequin ship, in line with the memo.

“In reality, members of the American Legion Put up 2 offered a letter of assist stating a perception that Mr. Lowe would have been proud to see the mannequin on show on the NMMV,” the memo provides. “We respect and need to honor Mr. Lowe’s needs to share the mannequin with Wyoming residents from across the state. We consider a relocation to the Nationwide Museum of Navy Autos is the perfect tribute that may be provided to him and with respect to the Navy and the USS
Wyoming.”

The transfer would have a value of round $3,650 which the town is hoping the Nationwide Museum of Navy Autos will assist cowl. Any value the town incurs because of the switch would come out of the town’s Ford Wyoming Heart Fund, in line with the advice from employees.

The council is anticipated to debate the request throughout its Could 10 work session.

The complete memo together with the letters it references can be found within the council’s work packet.