CAMDEN — The historic battleship New Jersey survived fighting in three major wars, but now it's combating an invisible enemy that could financially sink the ship as a public museum: the coronavirus.

The state-ordered closure of the Battleship New Jersey Museum and Memorial on the Camden waterfront is causing an income loss that may jeopardize the ship museum's financial stability, its officials said.

Its shutdown two weeks ago has prompted the museum to furlough more than two-thirds of its 88 paid full- and part-time workers and to plead for public donations for the floating museum, which is losing an average $10,000 in daily income and also coping with frozen state aid.

The museum board of trustees took immediate survival action Thursday night via video conference to apply for a $2 million Small Business Administration Economic Injury Disaster Loan (SBA) from the new $2 trillion dollar congressional relief package designed to help families, laid off employees and closed businesses weather the virus' economic impact.

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"We were doing very well until this month, but now we are being attacked by an unseen enemy that is highly contagious," museum CEO Phil Rowan said of the virus Friday from his home office.

"We have no operating income coming in now. I would call that an economic disaster for us."

Museum board of trustees chairman Marshall Spevak of Cherry Hill said top staff have been trying to work through details of the new federal loan plan but have been hampered by slowdowns on the SBA website.

"Over the last couple of years we have put ourselves in a very good financial situation to withstand something like this, but the longer this isolation goes on, the more funding we will need to resume and continue operating," he added.

In addition to the loss of $10,000 a day in daily revenue from overnight encampments, daily family and group tours, event fees and catering commissions, Rowan said the state Treasury department has frozen the last $250,000 of the museum's 2019 aid as well as income from voluntary donations derived from battleship license plate renewals and the state income tax checkout.

The World War II-era ship has been awarded annual grants from the Department of Environmental Protection's Historic Preservation Commission.

"Were not guaranteed any funding yet so far this year and it looks like it will be pretty difficult to get any state aid in these unprecedented times to support our $5.2 million budget, so whatever it takes to survive is what we will have to do," Rowan explained.

"It is our intention to bring our tour guides back as soon as we can reopen."

He said the museum first canceled its overnight guest encampment program on March 14 out of concern for the health and safety of its workers and visitors.

The museum then closed on Monday, March 16, just hours before Murphy ordered the closure of all non-essential state businesses and banned in-dining at all restaurants in order to discourage large gatherings of people.

"We began a thorough, three-day sanitizing of the ship and sealed it," the CEO said, calling the vessel now essentially "mothballed," a Navy term used to denote a decommissioned vessel no longer in use.

The museum is closed until the governor lifts his statewide order though no one knows when that will occur. Its 100 volunteers also are not reporting for duty,

"We have powered down the boilers, the gas water heater and most lights inside and outside and have done everything we can to cut costs," Rowan said, noting all those still at the ship are observing social distancing rules of maintaining a six-foot separation.

The CEO said the ship has retained 24 employees, including security, maintenance, those with salaries paid by local grant programs and some major administrative staff to help raise money, reschedule groups tours that had to be canceled in March and April and also prepare for a future reopening.

Some of the more than $350 billion of the new federal relief act Congress adopted Friday is earmarked specifically for small nonprofit businesses like the museum, but the battleship will be competing for a 30-year, 2.75 interest rate loan against other museums and institutions around the country.

Among those furloughed Friday were director of guest services and ticketing Dennis Maher and marketing manager Cynthia Bracelin, who works directly for still-employed marketing vice president Jack Willard.

Both furloughees said they are saddened by the decision to close the ship but understand the need.

"It makes perfect sense to close, but it's more disappointing for the younger employees like the two Rutgers students who work for me part-time," said Maher, a 15-year employee. "I just hope we can get back and up and running by Memorial Day.”

Bracelin, 53 and a Cinnaminson resident, said she already has filed for unemployment and believes she also will be eligible for money in the federal stimulus package.

"We all have to do what is necessary to keep everyone safe, but I miss being around the tour guides and the guys on the quarterdeck I have worked with for six years. I'm already emailing them."

Carol Comegno loves telling stories about South Jersey history and our military veterans. Her book, “The Battleship USS New Jersey: From Birth to Berth” is the definitive history of the battleship. If you have a story to share, call her at 856-486-2473 or email ccomegno@gannettnj.com.

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