Stockton port drops battleship bid

Stockton port drops battleship bid Ending more than a month of uncertainty, the Port of Stockton has formally abandoned efforts to bring the historic battleship *USS Iowa* to the inland port.
   The port, which proposed in 2004 to turn the battleship into a tourist attraction, is no longer willing to host the ship, saying it would cost too much to secure the port from visitors to the *Iowa.*
   The decision, made by the Port Commission in a private meeting, raised the ire of others involved in the effort to berth the battleship at Stockton. The Battleship Iowa Museum/Memorial Foundation said the port betrayed it. Retired Navy Capt. Jim Dodge, president of the foundation board, said the foundation likely will have to withdraw its application, which is being considered by the U.S. Navy.
   In making their decision, port officials referred to a January decision by the Department of Homeland Security to designate the port as a high-risk facility. This led to a reanalysis of security measures for the proposed *Iowa* location.
   Estimates on the total cost of housing the World War II-era ship and developing an on-shore museum had ranged from $11 million to $33 million, not including the new security measures. Experts advised the port that crowds of tourists would pose a risk that would require an 'extremely high and ongoing cost,' to mitigate.
   The Stockton Iowa foundation was one of three organizations to apply for the ship, now mothballed in Suisun Bay. A bid to dock the ship in San Francisco was withdrawn last week. The only remaining bid would dock the battleship in Vallejo.