LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Laborers’ International Union of North America (LIUNA) Local Union 802 and the Engineering Contractors Association (ECA) coordinated the volunteer efforts of several groups to connect the battleship to the sewer utilities of the city of Los Angeles. The vessel, known as the Battleship of Presidents, was donated to the Pacific Battleship Center to become a museum and tourist attraction docked at the Port of Los Angeles. Prior, visitors to the USS Iowa, a storied battleship that served our country for 50 years and is now a museum, had to use portable toilets in a parking lot whenever needing restroom facilities. Recognizing that this was both uncomfortable for visitors and undignified for the ship herself, the volunteers set out to fix the problem.
LIUNA, the contractors and the ECA worked with Los Angeles City Councilman Joe Buscaino’s office and the Pacific Battleship Center to develop the construction plans, expedite permits, and set the construction schedule. By permanently connecting the ship to the city’s water and sewer utilities, the project enables visitors to use comfortable restroom facilities on board the Iowa herself.
LIUNA Local 802 Business Manager Debbie Baker called these efforts, and the construction work that followed, “a labor of love and respect, not only in honor of the USS Iowa, but also in honor of the brave men and women who served on her. We hope that this will encourage and enable more people to visit the USS Iowa and learn about the important role she played in U.S. history.”
During the course of the project, volunteers set up control traffic, cut asphalt, excavated and shored a trench, installed sewer pipe, backfilled the trench, and repaved the parking lot. The following organizations volunteered manpower or donated equipment and materials:
- LIUNA members and staff
- The Engineering Contractors’ Association
- Mike Bubalo Construction Company
- Penhall Company
- Herzog Contracting Corporation
- E-Nor Innovations
- ARB, Inc.
- Pascal & Ludwig Constructors
- Colich Construction
- Williams Pipeline
- All American Asphalt
- Guzman Paving
- Murray Company
“The Pacific Battleship Center truly wants to thank all of the organizations and volunteers that helped us create a more enjoyable experience for our visitors,” says the Pacific Battleship Center’s Chief Operating Officer Jonathan Williams.
First commissioned in 1943, the USS Iowa served in World War II, the Korean War, and the Cold War. The ship also carried three U.S. Presidents, more than any other battleship, earning her the designation “Battleship of Presidents.” Taken out of service in 1990, the 887-foot, 45,000-ton battleship was donated by the U.S. Navy to the Pacific Battleship Center, and became a floating museum on July 7th, 2012.
