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The local nonprofit corporation Storis Museum is working to bring a historic Coast Guard cutter back to Juneau to be used as a maritime museum - the first in Alaska - by next year.

"I think returning the Storis to Juneau would be a great addition to our waterfront," Mayor Bruce Botelho said of Senate Bill 1194, the Coast Guard Authorization Bill that would authorize the Coast Guard to turn the ship over to the Storis Museum, and bring it home from the U.S. Navy's "Mothball Fleet" in Suisun Bay, near San Francisco.

"The ability to interpret a portion of Juneau's maritime history - the historic and continuing roll of the Coast Guard - is critically important to the community," Botelho said. "The Storis itself, of course, has a historical significance well beyond Juneau and Southeast, particularly in its Arctic voyage."

Coast Guard veteran and Storis Museum President Jim Loback spoke Thursday at the State Office Building about his experiences aboard the Storis and its 1957 achievement of being the first American flag ship to go through the Northwest Passage.

"It wasn't until about 40 years later that I realized the significance of what we did," Loback said. "Then when you get around talking with people now, and them wanting to bring ships through there every summer, I can see the real significance of it."

Aside from the Northwest Passage, Storis was instrumental in the Cold War by establishing the Distance Early Warning Line (DEW Line) radar system - the first radar picket line that the North American Air Defense Command used to detect Soviet bombers.

In its 65 years, Storis served many purposes: humanitarian missions, law and treaty enforcement, search and rescue, homeland security, icebreaking and military readiness.

Storis Museum secretary Joe Geldhoff said the Storis fought in Greenland against the German meteorological weather stations and has served in the Atlantic Ocean, Bering Sea, Arctic Ocean, Chukchee Sea and North Pacific.

"In its own right, it's a very historic ship," Geldhoff said. "It would also be a great platform to show Alaska's maritime history, which includes the steam ships, cruise ships, Navy and fishing vessels."

Before people were jumping in and out of airplanes, Storis represented the federal government in many remote western coastal villages, he added.

"It was both the place that brought the law, the place that brought the dentists, doctors and teachers, and it delivered the supplies when the Bureau of Indian Affairs couldn't," Geldhoff said.

"I think (the museum) would add great value to the tourist experience and also be terrific for the local residents to have a museum down there," Geldhoff said. "Beside the fudge and T-shirts and the gift shops, there's really only the tram. It'd be a perfect thing if you're downtown to be able to go aboard and see America's and Alaska's maritime history."

Former Storis seaman Mark Farmer said he believes the museum should have been done a long time ago.

"Storis served Alaska greatly, so has the Coast Guard, and it is an unsung part of our military services," Farmer said. "We dare lost touch of the past and of our history if we let this slip by us. This is part of Juneau's history, this is part of our nation's history and this is part of our history as a people, as humanity. The things she did I think should be heralded, remembered, respected and passed on to generations, and I can't think of a better place than Juneau for her to be."

SECURING A LOCATION

As far as funding, Storis Museum would be in charge of restoring and maintaining the Storis, but Loback is looking at other examples of maritime museums to model. USS Midway Museum in San Diego hires people to maintain it, and two merchant ships in San Pedro and San Francisco are maintained by volunteers.

Storis Museum is looking at a combination of the two, Loback said.

"There is a large cadre of active duty and retired Coast Guard people here who, of course, want to see the Storis brought here, but who have a wealth of talent that would be available to be on the ship, help maintain it, keep it operational," Geldhoff added.

Storis Museum also is investigating the possibility of using Storis as a training ship for young people to get certifications, as well as learn what it's like to live on a ship.

"We have an unbelievably great opportunity to integrate a museum ship into a tourist destination and then use the shoulder seasons for this entry level training," Geldhoff said.

"Things are moving slowing through Congress," Geldhoff said. "The best word we got is this will likely get the Congressional approval and authorization to transfer it in 2010. But it's not controversial, no one else wants this, everybody said, 'Yep, Juneau is the best place.'"

Mayor Botelho said he believes the challenge for the Juneau community will be finding an appropriate moorage spot.

"Largely, I think we've been waiting to resolve the question of port improvements, in particular what configuration the reconstruction of the city docks downtown would take," he said.

A favored alternative for the Storis would include cruise ships mooring somewhere between 150 and 200 feet off the current dock so one could reclaim the sea walk, Botelho explained. In turn, it would create a breakwater and an appropriate location for the Storis itself.

"I think relocation is largely going to be dependent on us finding and securing a spot that is appropriate for the Storis and is easily accessible by the public," Botelho said.

GREAT WHITE PIG

Named after a Scandinavian word meaning "great ice," Storis was commissioned in 1938 and designed by the Coast Guard to be a supply ship with ice-breaking capability in Greenland waters. Built by the Toledo Shipbuilding Co., in Ohio, Storis was the first tender fitted with a double top-lift boom and is the only example of its class. The contract was let on Jan. 26, 1941.

Referred to as the "Galloping Ghost of the Alaskan Coast" and "Queen of the Fleet," Storis was remembered by Farmer as "The Great White Pig."

"She's tubby, she's tough, she's stout, she's not very pretty, but she still brought us home every time," Farmer said.

A retired Coastie and Juneau resident, Farmer served his first unit aboard the Storis from 1983 to '85, then again in 1987, 1995 and 2000.

"She doesn't ride very well in the ocean. She tends to take a lot of side-to-side motion," Farmer said. "So the ride was always pretty tough, but in the end, it was a term of endearment. I don't know anybody who has ever served on that ship who doesn't have sort of a love-hate relationship with her."

Until it was decommissioned, Storis was the oldest commissioned cutter in the Coast Guard fleet. Storis was homeported in Juneau from 1948 to '57 and conducted its last patrol of 54 days in the Bering Sea just prior to decommissioning on Feb. 8, 2007.

• Contact Neighbors editor Kim Andree at 523-2272 or kim.andree@juneauempire.com.