A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to appropriate funds to relocate and preserve the css neuse gunboat.
Whereas, during the Civil War, the Confederate navy commissioned 22 ironclad gunboats, including the CSS Neuse, which was built in North Carolina; and
Whereas, in 1865, the crew of the CSS Neuse burned the vessel, causing it to sink in the Neuse River, where it remained for almost 100 years; and
Whereas, the remnants of the CSS Neuse were discovered in 1961 and raised in 1963; and
Whereas, the CSS Neuse has been on display at the CSS Neuse State Historic Site and Governor Richard Caswell Memorial in Kinston since 1963; and
Whereas, the CSS Neuse is one of only three surviving ironclads on display in the United States and the only commissioned Confederate ironclad on display in the world; and
Whereas, the CSS Neuse is North Carolina's largest historical artifact; and
Whereas, the CSS Neuse is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and a designated project of Save America's Treasures; and
Whereas, plans have been made to establish the regional CSS Neuse Civil War Museum in Kinston with the CSS Neuse as the main exhibit; and
Whereas, an estimated 50,000 visitors are expected to visit the future museum, which will boost heritage tourism and the economy in the Kinston area; and
Whereas, according to preservation experts, the CSS Neuse is deteriorating rapidly and will be unable to survive relocation if not moved in three to seven years and may become unsuitable for display within 12 to 16 years unless steps are taken to protect it; and
Whereas, funds are needed to move the CSS Neuse from its current location to the site of the future museum and to construct an environmentally controlled enclosure to preserve this historic vessel; Now, therefore,
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Cultural Resources, Historic Sites Division, the sum of one million six hundred thousand dollars ($1,600,000) for the 2005‑2006 fiscal year to relocate the CSS Neuse gunboat and to construct an environmentally controlled enclosure to preserve the vessel.
SECTION 2.  This act becomes effective July 1, 2005.