The Battleship North Carolina. (StarNews file photo)
For several years prior to 2011, the Battleship North Carolina held a Fantail Film Festival during the warmer months and has shown at least one film in October. Visitors were able to sit on the fantail of the battleship and enjoy classic flicks such as “Father Goose” with Cary Grant and “They Were Expendable” with Robert Montgomery, just like its crew did during World War II.
In 2011, however, no films are scheduled because the festival was found to be cost prohibitive.
“What we have found is that with the rising costs of rental fees, the cost of the screen and the licensing fees, we were actually losing money,” said battleship spokeswoman Heather Loftin.
The Battleship Commission had to pay royalty fees based on the number of people who were to see a movie. And it had to pay a rental fee for the large inflatable movie screen, which ran from $800 to $1,000 per screening.
The ship is still owned by the U.S. government but is managed by the State of North Carolina and the Battleship Commission as a memorial to its World War II veterans and the 10,000 North Carolinians who died during the war.
Date posted: May 3, 2011
User-contributed question by:
Anonymous
This is SO sad. It was one of my favorite low-cost family friendly activities during the warmer months…