Art News

Philly Museum Sends SOS to Care for Historic Ship

PHILADELPHIA (AP).- A Philadelphia maritime museum says it can no longer afford to care for a historic ship that served in the Spanish-American War. The Independence Seaport Museum is seeking a new owner for the USS Olympia, whose guns fired the first shots at the Battle of Manila Bay in 1898. The museum estimates it would cost up to $30 million to tow, restore, interpret and endow the deteriorating vessel. Museum officials say they have spent $5.3 million on the ship since acquiring it in 1996. But they say efforts to attract further public and private funding have failed. The Olympia, docked in the Delaware River, contains a collection of paintings, photographs and artifacts. The attraction will close in September.