Commanding The Mighty Mo
Michael Carr recently took the helm of the remarkable USS Missouri Memorial and has big plans to celebrate her 10th anniversary at Pearl Harbor. If you are confined to an office for most of the day, you are considered fortunate to have a
By Brandon Bosworth
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As President Of The Uss Missouri Memorial, Michael Carr Considers Himself Lucky To Oversee One Of ‘america’s Historical Treasures’
If you are confined to an office for most of the day, you are considered fortunate to have a window. Michael Carr, president and chief operating officer of the Battleship Missouri Memorial, doesn’t have a window in his office. He has a porthole, which makes sense when you consider his office is on a 45,000-ton warship.
Carr took the helm of the Mighty Mo in June of this year, after what he described as a “very extensive interview process.”
“The memorial’s board of directors were very deliberate in their search for a new president,” says Carr. “I was honored when they asked me to take on the position, and jumped at the opportunity.”
Carr is no stranger to the visitor industry, having served as president of Polynesian Adventure Tours from 1989 to 2004. He is also a self-described “history buff” who says the opportunity to serve “as steward of one of America’s historical treasures is a great honor.”
The Battleship Missouri Memorial is a popular destination for tourists. “The Missouri is already one of Hawaii’s most-visited paid attractions,” explains Carr. “We get upwards of 400,000 visitors a year.” In the summer of 2007, the ship welcomed her 3-millionth visitor. This steady stream of paying customers allows the Missouri to be essentially self-sustaining, which is rare for a museum.
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“Visitors fees pay for the memorial’s basic operating costs,” says Carr, “allowing fundraising efforts to be used for specific projects, such as educational programs.”
Still, tough economic times take their toll on visitor numbers, even for such a popular attraction as the Battleship USS Missouri.
“Our numbers have declined just as hotel occupancy rates have declined,” says Carr. “We don’t expect to have as many visitors in 2009 as we’ve had in 2008.”
Not content to just sit back and let the situation get worse, Carr hopes to attract more visitors by ramping-up advertising efforts and trying to more closely tie the Missouri to the “overall Pearl Harbor experience.”
“We want to convince people that they haven’t really done Pearl Harbor unless they’ve done the Battleship Missouri Memorial.”
Visiting both the USS Arizona Memorial and the Missouri gives a visitor a unique historical perspective, as one can see where World War II began for America on Dec. 7, 1941, as well as where it ended. Tour guides proudly point out the exact spot on the Mighty Mo’s deck where Japan surrendered to Allied Forces in Tokyo Bay on Sept. 2, 1945.
Another part of the plan to bring in more visitors includes greater outreach to kamaaina, particularly young people. The ship hosts field trips from various schools, and features a standardized educational curriculum which focuses not just on history, but also science, engineering and technology as well.
“We’ve had several thousand kids visit the ship on field trips,” says Carr, who hopes “they will go home and tell their parents what
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