Bringing the Battleship Texas to Baytown will take $20 million to $30 million, foundation head says

On tonight’s council agenda is a discussion item about bringing the USS Texas Battleship to Baytown after it undergoes repairs in Galveston. 

Much has been discussed about the historic ship and placing it at Bayland Island next to the Hyatt Regency hotel and convention center currently under construction. The cost of bringing the ship to Baytown, including the estimated $30 or so million for dredging, has been a hot topic. 

“There is going to have to be funding,” Bruce Bramlett, Battleship Texas Foundation executive director, said. “You’re talking about $20 million to $30 million worth of dredging that we do not have. Where that funding comes from? That problem is going to have to be solved. You need the funding to get it in there.”

City officials were asked if there has been any financial commitment made to bring the historic dreadnought to Baytown. 

“City council has not committed any funding to the project,” City of Baytown spokesman Jason Calder said. 

The council meeting is at 6:30 tonight in the Council Chamber at City Hall, 2401 Market St. 

Bramlett plans to attend tonight’s meeting, he said. Many other residents are expected to attend, as well, including some from the Bring the Battleship to Baytown Committee, a group of local residents who want to see the ship parked next to Bayland Island in the near future. 

Jay Eshbach, who heads the committee, said in February that the city requested they obtain a list from the foundation of what it was looking for to bring the ship to Baytown. The list was made in hopes of potentially leading to an interlocal agreement between the city and the foundation. 

“They made up a list, presented it to us, and we presented it (to the city) March 1,” Eshbach said. “We asked for the city attorney to meet with the foundation, and those requests have gone unanswered.”

The document, titled “Baytown Terms and Key Agreements,” states naming Baytown as the home of the USS Texas is “contingent on The City of Baytown providing support and some funding.”

“We believe that a funding number should be agreed upon ahead of any decision on bringing The Texas to Bayland Island and be performance-based,” the document states. “This funding to be determined by agreed upon milestones such as bulk-head completion, monopiles and other infrastructure needs.”

Eshbach emphasized this was only a “wish list,” and not a list of demands. 

Mayor Brandon Capetillo said he is aware of the “wish-list” document. 

“I know that [Council members Mike Lester and Laura Alvarado] are our ad hoc to represent us to the foundation. And in their discussions and conversations with them, there were some requests from the foundation,” Capetillo said on Wednesday. “And they were forwarded to them. That is pretty much what is going to be discussed in general tomorrow night.”

Some of the requests are “amenable,” and some may not be for various reasons, Capetillo said. 

One of the items on the list is to rename Bayland Island. 

“That is one example of something that was a request that council could accept or not. That one may not be doable,” Capetillo said.  

Other items include allowing the foundation to have “complete operational control of the Texas.” It also has asked for a dedicated building for a gift shop, a museum, workshops, storage space and offices above the 500-year storm surge plain. 

Initial plans called for the battleship to be taken out of its berth under the San Jacinto Monument in June to a floating dry dock at Gulf Copper & Manufacturing Corp.’s Galveston shipyard. 

But those plans might have to change, Bramlett said. 

“It is probably not going to make June. We are waiting on the dock that is supposed to leave the Bahamas on May 20. Then, they will get it here,” he said, referring to the dry dock that will be floated from the Bahamas to Galveston to accommodate the ship while it undergoes repairs. 

“They have to do a little more work to it,” he said. “But we are close. Sooner than later, we are really close to it being pulled out. If I had to guess, I’d say late July.”