Freedom Park

[Bosco55David]

Just recently I found out that the landing ship Freedom Park acquired back in 98-99 was removed and taken down to NC to be put in a different museum. Is FP having trouble making enough money for the maintenance on the Park?

As a kid I used to love going there since I'm very big into military history. When they acquired that landing ship there were also rumors of them trying to acquire the USS Omaha submarine to place on display. I really thought the park would be on the upswing but it looks like they are struggling.  

Any info you guys have on this issue?

[cdub]

Freedom park could not make ends meet and has actually sold out to the City (lease interest anyway - I think both parties were trying to find places for most of the artifacts).  The City is trying to get its lease back from Hazard Corp as they have not done what they promised with the area.

[Bosco55David]

I don't quite understand. Does that mean that the park is/will be closing, or that the city will simply be taking over?

It would be a shame if we lost Freedom Park, especially considering both vessels on display there are the only ones of their type left in the world. I always felt that if they put some actual effort into promoting the park and getting new displays, the park would have done well. [/img][/justify]

[cdub]

If its been open recently its news to me.  Last I knew it was closed up tight.  I suppose the City may have an agreement to let them run it for a while to try to make some dough.

[Bosco55David]

That friggin sucks.

[TechnicalDisaster]

It was open a couple months ago when I went to photograph it:

http://www.chrisbradleyphotography.com/ ... reedomPark





The only difference I noticed after the city took over was that you aren't allowed on the boats at all.  Before, when it was staffed, you could tour the insides of the boat and sub.

[Bosco55David]

Great pictures Bradley!  :mrgreen:  

Glad to hear that it's still open. Any idea if them not allowing people on the ships is just a temporary thing?

[dandr1229]

An article in the OWH yesterday talked about the Papillion LaVista South Titan Navy ROTC program adopting the boat.   They are cleaning it up, learning of its history, and then will start weekend tours for interested groups.    At least someone is starting to care about it and while not open all the time on a regular schedule - at least its a start.

[Bosco55David]

That's good to hear. Both of those vessels are the last of their kind in the world, which is very impressive for the Hazard since so many of those minesweepers were made.

When I get back there, I'd like to put in some volunteer time there.

[Coyote]

City: Vandals accessing Freedom Park by water

At this point, there is no estimate on when Freedom Park will reopen. While Bench is focused on security at the park, he said reopening it would be an expensive undertaking.

[iamjacobm]

City Council is going to vote to spend almost $100K to do some work here.

[iamjacobm]

http://www.wowt.com/home/headlines/The- ... 74192.html

On Tuesday the City Council will vote on funding to set the ship back upright. The plan is to dig out around the minesweeper, flood the hole, float the ship and then slowly drain the hole bringing the ship back down full upright position.

The project will cost about $90,000 with FEMA picking up all but $12,000.

It will represent a big step on the road to reopening the park. There is a lot of interest in the future of Freedom Park. Omaha Parks Director Brook Bench says "we just want to be able to open it back up for the people of Omaha and people from all over the Midwest that have called the mayors hotline and the Parks Department who want to know are we ever going to open this back up again and our goal is yes we want to open this back up this spring".

[skinzfan23]

I would love to see this park open back up. I remember going there as a little kid and was saddened to see it when I went running up there after the 2011 floods.

[GRANDPASMUCKER]

When I was a kid the USS Hazard was docked on the side of the river at Dodge Park which was much cooler then the way they had it at Freedom park. Back in the early 70's a bunch of us neighborhood kids often would ride our bikes down to Dodge park and pay our 75 cent admission and go raise heck on the USS Hazard until we got kicked off after about 3 hours. One time there was about 6 of us raising cane on that ship and one guy had to go to the bathroom. Turns out the bathroom was out of order that day so he got mad and went to the captains quarters and laid a log right in the middle of the captains bed. We got thrown off the ship and banned for the rest of the summer for that. One time one of my buddies found a money sack of tokens on the ship that were good for free admission to the ship. An employee had spaced off and left them laying out in the open. We were touring that ship for free for months after that.

[iamjacobm]

Open to the public again!

[nativeomahan]

When I was a kid the USS Hazard was docked on the side of the river at Dodge Park which was much cooler then the way they had it at Freedom park. Back in the early 70's a bunch of us neighborhood kids often would ride our bikes down to Dodge park and pay our 75 cent admission and go raise heck on the USS Hazard until we got kicked off after about 3 hours. One time there was about 6 of us raising cane on that ship and one guy had to go to the bathroom. Turns out the bathroom was out of order that day so he got mad and went to the captains quarters and laid a log right in the middle of the captains bed. We got thrown off the ship and banned for the rest of the summer for that. One time one of my buddies found a money sack of tokens on the ship that were good for free admission to the ship. An employee had spaced off and left them laying out in the open. We were touring that ship for free for months after that.

And I thought that I had to be watching Star Trek in order to hear about the Captain's log. Sheesh.

[Bosco55David]

On a side note, the LSM-45 that was displayed at Freedom Park from 1998-2004 was recently scrapped after the museum that the LSM Foundation moved it for ended up changing locations and did not want it.

[GrandpaaSmucker]

It said in the paper today that the city council was settling a law suit the USS Hazard owners had against us by giving them a couple of million dollars. It said the USS Hazard owners sued us for 60+ million because we did not allow them to open Freedom Park back up. First I heard of any of it. That city council sure likes throwing our money around without cluing us in on it. So is the Hazard going to be moved or scraped or what?

[bigredmed1]

The park was heavily damaged by the flood caused by the environmental left and the Obama admin. Why these groups aren’t paying for the damage they caused really bites me.

[Garrett]

The park was heavily damaged by the flood caused by the environmental left and the Obama admin. Why these groups aren’t paying for the damage they caused really bites me.

OK I'll bite.... what?

[GrandpaaSmucker]

The park was heavily damaged by the flood caused by the environmental left and the Obama admin. Why these groups aren’t paying for the damage they caused really bites me.

OK I'll bite.... what?

The people have become suspicious. We never had this many problems before and now suddenly the river has become uncontrollable. There are not too many land, cabin, home and boat owners along the Missouri left that do not firmly believe the fix is in.

[Louie]

The park was heavily damaged by the flood caused by the environmental left and the Obama admin. Why these groups aren’t paying for the damage they caused really bites me.

OK I'll bite.... what?

Yeah how did they cause a flood?

[bigredmed1]

The park was heavily damaged by the flood caused by the environmental left and the Obama admin. Why these groups aren’t paying for the damage they caused really bites me.

OK I'll bite.... what?

Yeah how did they cause a flood?

The 2011 flood was caused by excessive snow melt in Montana. What caused it to go from normal spring flood to the biggest flood in 10,000 years is that the environmentalists who obsess over bird species got the Obama admin controlled Corps of Engineers to sign a consent decree to store more water than normal to “simulate seasonal floods” to save habitat along the river for endangered species. What the ACE and the Obama admin didn’t do was walk the ground and determine that the bird species in question were not endangered and were doing nicely by the Platte. The dams went from normal start of winter levels around 75% of full pool to 94-97% of full pool. The dams in The Dakota’s are huge and stored so much water, that they had to be drained just to maintain their structural safety. The snow melt was far too much for any of the dams to hold back. That started the flood. All the backed up water had to go and that water is what caused the flood to extend into October

This crazy water retention is causing continued flooding nearNiobrara State Park, Gavin’s Point has all of its gates open full blast to keep that section of the river from continued flooding.

Had the ACE declined to roll over, the river today would be much lower and back in 2011, we would have had our usual 1-2 week flood. We wouldn’t have had a flood that went from June to October and ripped out I 680 and I 29. We would had some sand bags, not the Platte turning into a lake and flowing north along the east side of hwy 75.

[TitosBuritoBarn]

The park was heavily damaged by the flood caused by the environmental left and the Obama admin. Why these groups aren’t paying for the damage they caused really bites me.

OK I'll bite.... what?

Yeah how did they cause a flood?

The 2011 flood was caused by excessive snow melt in Montana. What caused it to go from normal spring flood to the biggest flood in 10,000 years is that the environmentalists who obsess over bird species got the Obama admin controlled Corps of Engineers to sign a consent decree to store more water than normal to “simulate seasonal floods” to save habitat along the river for endangered species. What the ACE and the Obama admin didn’t do was walk the ground and determine that the bird species in question were not endangered and were doing nicely by the Platte. The dams went from normal start of winter levels around 75% of full pool to 94-97% of full pool. The dams in The Dakota’s are huge and stored so much water, that they had to be drained just to maintain their structural safety. The snow melt was far too much for any of the dams to hold back. That started the flood. All the backed up water had to go and that water is what caused the flood to extend into October

This crazy water retention is causing continued flooding nearNiobrara State Park, Gavin’s Point has all of its gates open full blast to keep that section of the river from continued flooding.

Had the ACE declined to roll over, the river today would be much lower and back in 2011, we would have had our usual 1-2 week flood. We wouldn’t have had a flood that went from June to October and ripped out I 680 and I 29. We would had some sand bags, not the Platte turning into a lake and flowing north along the east side of hwy 75.

You're right, the ACE has been focusing on wildlife habitat along the river. Except that's been their policy since 2004. Right in the middle of the Bush years, sir.

https://www.npr.org/2018/04/16/60279128 ... ouri-river

I'd also like to know how you imagine the Army Corps of Engineers can prevent flooding along 2,300 miles of river during record (dare I say climate change induced) rain and snowfall upstream.

[bigredmed1]

The park was heavily damaged by the flood caused by the environmental left and the Obama admin. Why these groups aren’t paying for the damage they caused really bites me.

OK I'll bite.... what?

Yeah how did they cause a flood?

The 2011 flood was caused by excessive snow melt in Montana. What caused it to go from normal spring flood to the biggest flood in 10,000 years is that the environmentalists who obsess over bird species got the Obama admin controlled Corps of Engineers to sign a consent decree to store more water than normal to “simulate seasonal floods” to save habitat along the river for endangered species. What the ACE and the Obama admin didn’t do was walk the ground and determine that the bird species in question were not endangered and were doing nicely by the Platte. The dams went from normal start of winter levels around 75% of full pool to 94-97% of full pool. The dams in The Dakota’s are huge and stored so much water, that they had to be drained just to maintain their structural safety. The snow melt was far too much for any of the dams to hold back. That started the flood. All the backed up water had to go and that water is what caused the flood to extend into October

This crazy water retention is causing continued flooding nearNiobrara State Park, Gavin’s Point has all of its gates open full blast to keep that section of the river from continued flooding.

Had the ACE declined to roll over, the river today would be much lower and back in 2011, we would have had our usual 1-2 week flood. We wouldn’t have had a flood that went from June to October and ripped out I 680 and I 29. We would had some sand bags, not the Platte turning into a lake and flowing north along the east side of hwy 75.

You're right, the ACE has been focusing on wildlife habitat along the river. Except that's been their policy since 2004. Right in the middle of the Bush years, sir.

https://www.npr.org/2018/04/16/60279128 ... ouri-river

I'd also like to know how you imagine the Army Corps of Engineers can prevent flooding along 2,300 miles of river during record (dare I say climate change induced) rain and snowfall upstream.

The ACE made it worse than it would have been. The flood was of a nature that exceeded the snow pack in MT by a lot. Just do some math. The snow pack was 10 feet deep and covered an area of about 1000 sq miles. This means that there was roughly 52,800,007 cubic feet of snow. Assuming that not all of it was powder and some was actual snow, we will allow for the 1 inch of rain per 10 inches of snow, and there was about 5,280,000 cubic feet of water in the snow pack. The river right now is 23.1 feet deep and according to the latest gage readings is blowing 70,000 cubic feet per second past Omaha. That means that the volume represented by the naturally occurring flood water could have been moved by the river in it's current state in about 75 seconds. Had the mainstem dams been managed as they were designed to be used, most of this water could have been captured and released in an organized and safer manner. But the dams were already WAY too full and all the water went downstream. Just like in the mega-floods of the late 1800s, except for one difference, those floods were single large pulses of water. Bad floods to be sure, but limited to the pulse. The 2011 flood was compounded by the ACE/Environmentalists forced incorrect use of the dams which caused the spring phase of the flood followed by the summer and fall phases to allow the dams to drain thus creating the geologic scale flood experienced in 2011.

[GetUrban]

The park was heavily damaged by the flood caused by the environmental left and the Obama admin. Why these groups aren’t paying for the damage they caused really bites me.

OK I'll bite.... what?

Yeah how did they cause a flood?

The 2011 flood was caused by excessive snow melt in Montana. What caused it to go from normal spring flood to the biggest flood in 10,000 years is that the environmentalists who obsess over bird species got the Obama admin controlled Corps of Engineers to sign a consent decree to store more water than normal to “simulate seasonal floods” to save habitat along the river for endangered species. What the ACE and the Obama admin didn’t do was walk the ground and determine that the bird species in question were not endangered and were doing nicely by the Platte. The dams went from normal start of winter levels around 75% of full pool to 94-97% of full pool. The dams in The Dakota’s are huge and stored so much water, that they had to be drained just to maintain their structural safety. The snow melt was far too much for any of the dams to hold back. That started the flood. All the backed up water had to go and that water is what caused the flood to extend into October

This crazy water retention is causing continued flooding nearNiobrara State Park, Gavin’s Point has all of its gates open full blast to keep that section of the river from continued flooding.

Had the ACE declined to roll over, the river today would be much lower and back in 2011, we would have had our usual 1-2 week flood. We wouldn’t have had a flood that went from June to October and ripped out I 680 and I 29. We would had some sand bags, not the Platte turning into a lake and flowing north along the east side of hwy 75.

You're right, the ACE has been focusing on wildlife habitat along the river. Except that's been their policy since 2004. Right in the middle of the Bush years, sir.

https://www.npr.org/2018/04/16/60279128 ... ouri-river

I'd also like to know how you imagine the Army Corps of Engineers can prevent flooding along 2,300 miles of river during record (dare I say climate change induced) rain and snowfall upstream.

The ACE made it worse than it would have been. The flood was of a nature that exceeded the snow pack in MT by a lot. Just do some math. The snow pack was 10 feet deep and covered an area of about 1000 sq miles. This means that there was roughly 52,800,007 cubic feet of snow. Assuming that not all of it was powder and some was actual snow, we will allow for the 1 inch of rain per 10 inches of snow, and there was about 5,280,000 cubic feet of water in the snow pack. The river right now is 23.1 feet deep and according to the latest gage readings is blowing 70,000 cubic feet per second past Omaha. That means that the volume represented by the naturally occurring flood water could have been moved by the river in it's current state in about 75 seconds. Had the mainstem dams been managed as they were designed to be used, most of this water could have been captured and released in an organized and safer manner. But the dams were already WAY too full and all the water went downstream. Just like in the mega-floods of the late 1800s, except for one difference, those floods were single large pulses of water. Bad floods to be sure, but limited to the pulse. The 2011 flood was compounded by the ACE/Environmentalists forced incorrect use of the dams which caused the spring phase of the flood followed by the summer and fall phases to allow the dams to drain thus creating the geologic scale flood experienced in 2011.

It was a bit more complicated than that. The run-off in the Missouri basin was estimated to have been 57.7 million acre/ft. in 2011, which was 9 maf more than the previous record of 49 maf in 1997. An acre/foot = 43560 cu/ft So 43,560 x 57,700,000 = 251,341,200,000 cu/ft. Yes, over 257.3 billion cu/ft. of run-off.

Run-off in 2000, 2002, &2004 was less than 17 maf per year, to give you an idea of "normal".

The wildlife management "pulses" were suspended in 2011, so that practice was not a factor that year.

More in-depth info here:
http://www.prairiefirenewspaper.com/201 ... nes-causes

[GrandpaaSmucker]

It was a bit more complicated than that. The run-off in the Missouri basin was estimated to have been 57.7 million acre/ft. in 2011, which was 9 maf more than the previous record of 49 maf in 1997. An acre/foot = 43560 cu/ft So 43,560 x 57,700,000 = 251,341,200,000 cu/ft. Yes, over 257.3 billion cu/ft. of run-off.

Run-off in 2000, 2002, &2004 was less than 17 maf per year, to give you an idea of "normal".

The wildlife management "pulses" were suspended in 2011, so that practice was not a factor that year.

More in-depth info here:
http://www.prairiefirenewspaper.com/201 ... nes-causes

FAKE NEWS from a fake web site

[GetUrban]

It was a bit more complicated than that. The run-off in the Missouri basin was estimated to have been 57.7 million acre/ft. in 2011, which was 9 maf more than the previous record of 49 maf in 1997. An acre/foot = 43560 cu/ft So 43,560 x 57,700,000 = 251,341,200,000 cu/ft. Yes, over 257.3 billion cu/ft. of run-off.

Run-off in 2000, 2002, &2004 was less than 17 maf per year, to give you an idea of "normal".

The wildlife management "pulses" were suspended in 2011, so that practice was not a factor that year.

More in-depth info here:
http://www.prairiefirenewspaper.com/201 ... nes-causes

FAKE NEWS from a fake web site

WRONG! The numbers don't lie. Just because the publication has "Progressive" in the name, you don't even bother reading the data they present, even though it's public information that came straight from from USACE and USGS.

The amount of water released for the spring pulses is a drop in the bucket compared to the 16.1 maf storage capacity reserved for flood control . The 16.1 maf flood reserve is maintained/provided regardless of whether the pulses are released for any given year.

March pulse = 2 days at 5000 CFS = 0.1147844 acre ft x 172,000 seconds = 19,742 acre ft. That is only .012% of the 16.1 maf flood storage capacity
May Pulse = 2 days at 20,000 cfs - 0.45913751 acre ft x 172,000 seconds = 78,972 acre ft. That is only .049% of the 16.1 maf flood storage capacity

But they do not even release the pulses if they cannot set aside 16.1 maf for flood storage capacity.

The main reason we had flooding for so long that year was that they couldn't release the water fast enough once the 16.1 maf capacity was reached. And the rain kept coming. You could argue that they should provide more than 16.1 maf flood storage capacity in the system, but you have to consider all of the other things the water is used for. The pulses are really a minor factor in the big picture. The overall system has 73.1 maf capacity, but you can't have all of that capacity available for a 1000 year event. If you did, you wouldn't have any water left for irrigation, hydro electric, recreation, etc.

Correction: The flood storage capacity is actually 16.3 MAF.

[GetUrban]

Here's some additional info on the 2011 flood from USACE...

http://www.nwd-mr.usace.army.mil/rcc/re ... torage.pdf

http://cdm16021.contentdm.oclc.org/util ... l1/id/3040

Certainly an interesting subject, IMO.

[PotatoeEatsFish]

Whenever I pass by the airport i see a billboard of a rendering of a submarine I think? I've never stopped to actually look at it, does anyone know what it is?

(Feel free to move this if there's already a thread)

[TheSeventhBrat]

Whenever I pass by the airport i see a billboard of a rendering of a submarine I think? I've never stopped to actually look at it, does anyone know what it is?

(Feel free to move this if there's already a thread)

The USS Marlin is on display at Freedom Park, which is on the Missouri River.

Freedom Park

[skinzfan23]

Is the park still accessible? I know after the floods a few years ago they closed the road. Can anyone confirm if is open again?

[TheSeventhBrat]

Is the park still accessible? I know after the floods a few years ago they closed the road. Can anyone confirm if is open again?

According to the City of Omaha, Freedom Park is still closed.

[GrandpaaSmucker]

I thought I read somewhere that the sub was ruined in the flood.

[Uffda]

HEARTLAND FLOOD: Two Nebraska parks face an uncertain future

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) -- According to Nebraska Parks and Rec director Brook Bench, this is the first time in history that the Missouri River has crested above 30-feet in September, and this is presenting several tough decisions regarding NP Dodge Park and Freedom Park.

Forcing officials to take a hard look at the park's futures.

Aside from the parks being closed again due to this year's flooding,

https://www.wowt.com/content/news/Offic ... 54581.html

[PotatoeEatsFish]

Sorry I forgot about NP Dodge, I still don't get why they don't just move the boats to the riverfront

[Brad]

Just heard on the radio, they will talk about moving the artifacts in the park at this Tuesday’s City Council Meeting.

[Coyote]

City Looking To Move WWII Artifacts Out Of Freedom Park

image.jpeg (71.49 KiB) Viewed 1534 times

[skinzfan23]

That would be great if they could find a place to move them to.

[GrandpaaSmucker]

The USS Hazard is huge. Moving that anywhere would cost a fortune. They brought it here by floating it up the river.