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Pearl Harbor museums to remain open during government shutdown

DENNIS ODA / JULY 21

The USS Arizona Memorial visitor center and all of the other Pearl Harbor historic sites will remain open if there is a government shutdown.

The USS Arizona Memorial visitor center and all of the other Pearl Harbor historic sites will remain open during the federal government shutdown that began Saturday, officials said.

The nonprofit organizations that operate the four sites — Pacific Historic Parks, which assists the Arizona Memorial; USS Bowfin Submarine Museum & Park; Battleship Missouri Memorial and Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum — have jointly committed to provide the financial support to allow the National Park Service to continue daily operations, Pacific Historic Parks officials said.

“Thousands of people visit Pearl Harbor each and every day. For many of them, it’s the trip of a lifetime,” said Aileen Utterdyke, Pacific Historic Parks’ president and chief executive officer. “We will always do our best to avoid disappointing them and to minimize disruption and inconvenience caused by a shutdown.”

The Navy sailors who operate the shuttle boats are not affected, and operations at the Pearl Harbor Visitor Center are running as usual for now, Utterdyke said in a news release.

Pacific Historic Parks has been raising funds and providing support to the National Park Service operations at Pearl Harbor since 1979, when the organization was known as the Arizona Memorial Museum Association.

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