The world famous ocean liner, the RMS Queen Mary, has been owned and operated by the City of Long Beach as a hotel since 1967. Over the years and up to today, they have done numerous alterations, demolished many historic areas, and left others in a state of disrepair from neglect. The Queen Mary was an important part of the 20th Century and a marvel of engineering and design and the owners need to treat her accordingly. We, the public, are here to show them that we care about the future of the ship and want to see her properly protected, restored and preserved, something they are not effectively doing today. Please sign the petition to tell the City of Long Beach they need to properly take care of this historic masterpiece that is in their care.
Copy and paste the link below into your browser to see more photos of her current deplorable state:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.214834728562404.51153.106397092739502&type=3
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We, the undersigned, urge Mayor Robert Garcia of the City of Long Beach and Mr. John Thomas, the historic consultant for the Queen Mary, to implement proper protection, restoration, and preservation of the historic ocean liner, the RMS Queen Mary, immediately.
Since the City of Long Beach purchased the Queen Mary in 1967, many historic areas of the ship have continually been denied proper upkeep, significantly altered, repurposed as storage rooms or destroyed altogether. These grand art deco rooms are subjected to destructive abuse from daily wear and tear by the hotel and need serious help. Original artifacts like fittings, furnishings and artwork are improperly stored in areas like unconditioned cargo holds subject to the coastal elements and not properly cared for or displayed.
The alterations, demolitions and neglect still occur today knowing the historic significance of the ship and need to stop immediately. The Queen Mary is one of the great human achievements of the 20th century - a masterpiece of engineering, artistry and craftsmanship - the sole survivor of the age of trans-Atlantic travel. She is a museum. She is part of history. Please treat her accordingly.
We ask you to do the following:
- Protect, restore and preserve historic rooms of the ship per their original state. Stop using original historic public rooms as official hotel storage rooms and educate staff on proper ways to take care of them. Stop investing money into 'new' construction on the ship that does not pertain to the Queen Mary's original design, and focus funds on restoring areas to original condition as much as possible.
-Protect, restore and preserve historic artifacts that are original to the Queen Mary including fittings, furnishings and artwork. Set up a proper museum so items can be properly displayed and cared for, and the public can have access to see them.
-Create a committee that would properly oversee the care of the ship and enforce proper historic protection, restoration and preservation for the Queen Mary and her artifacts.
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