If a group of investors called Sub Maine has its way, we could have a souvenir from the Harrison Ford movie K19: The Widowmaker docked right here in the Old Port, bringing an estimated 50,000 tourists to the area this summer.

At least that's how Sub Maine's offer to bring a former Soviet Romeo-class submarine into Portland Harbor played out initially. But in a surprise twist, the city turned down the group's proposal to lease a spot on the former Bath Iron Works dock, due to the earlier offer from Cianbro Corp. to repair two large oil rigs there, the unclear financial situation of the sub's new ownership, and, to a lesser degree, sentiments attributed to "mayor Karen Geraghty and other city councilors" that they didn't like the idea of "a weapon of mass destruction" honored as part of a Cold War museum on the Portland waterfront. [As if we hadn't been cranking out Aegis cruisers, capable of carrying nuclear guided cruise missiles as well as conducting antisubmarine warfare activity, on the same site for years.]

This decision certainly may be the proper one, but it does come on the heels of the city's first accepting, then turning down a quirky, controversial statue of George Cleeves, who 'may or may not' have founded our city, and 'may or may not' have owned a slave.

The turndown also reminds us of our recent story on mascot ships, when Portland took second to Boston to host the USS Constitution (which did its share of mass destruction in its day). Port manager Jeff Monroe told the press he didn't want the harbor to be saddled with a possible "white elephant," but others have wondered, isn't it better to risk a white elephant than to have no elephants at all? Sometimes the most fun part of visiting a destination attraction is seeing the white elephants, which develop a history of their own just because of the controversy.

One of my friend's favorite memories is driving through the Texas desert, only to find the USS Iwo Jima, a ship he'd once served on, rising from the desert floor.

“...isn't it better to risk a white elephant than to have no elephants at all? Sometimes the most fun part of visiting a destination attraction is seeing the white elephants”

Portland has already come to regret lost opportunity of returning to Boothby Square the original granite Boothby Square fountain cum horse trough that sits forlornly on eccentric auctioneer Billy Johnson's front lawn on US Route 1 in Kennebunk.

It's a little sad that here in Maine, private dealers have to take up the Smithsonian's role as caretakers of the nation's attic so that opportunities for the public to enjoy (which sometimes does involve scoff & ridicule) history's flotsam & jetsam. Sure, a gift like a surplus Soviet submarine might be a Trojan horse. But who would have heard of Troy without the horse?

At least members of PETA wouldn't complain about these elephants being used in the circus of the 21st century.

And the idea of a Cold War museum could be a healing one. Unless we're mistaken, the Holocaust museum was not created to glorify the Holocaust.

K19: The Widowmaker tells the true story of Russia's first ballistic submarine to carry missiles, and how it malfunctioned on its first voyage. The malfunction occurred in the North Atlantic, close to southern Greenland, in the summer of 1961 when a leak was found in the sub's nuclear reactor.

Ford plays the commander of the sub and Liam Neeson plays his second in command. The film focuses on the crew's race against time to prevent a nuclear disaster.

K19, due this summer, could have opened at the same time as the 'museum.'

At press time, Juliett 484 still lies in wait post-production as the property of Paramount and Intermedia Films, who bought the sub on eBay, the online auction company, in 2000, for a cool $1,050,000 from a Russian company called Subexpo, who had the sub docked as a museum in St. Petersburg, Florida. Juliett 484 gave the K-19 producers an opportunity to build on and use authentic submarine sets from the 1960s.

Regarding Sub Maine, Jeff Monroe says, "I can honestly say from experience that, honestly, these guys did everything wrong. We would help them if they needed it."

Concerning harbor safety, LT Mike McCarthy, local public affairs officer for the Coast Guard, says, "Before the sub comes to Portland, we'd just want to make sure it's safe for people. It has been in the U.S. for many years, and many working parts have been re-placed on it. It shouldn't have any invasive organisms or radiation. Simply, we have to be convinced it won't sink."

City officials did meet with Chet Dunican, a marine surveyor hired by Sub Maine, and on February 27 announced it wouldn't give a 60-foot city berth to the submarine.

The future of Juliett 484 coming to Portland is in doubt, but as Monroe says, "Just because the city has turned down the berth, it doesn't mean a private company can't grant the sub a spot in the harbor." Who knows, this may not be the end of the Russian submarine and Portland's saga.

©2002 Portland Monthly Magazine