
DATE: Wednesday, April 2, 1997              TAG: 9704020535

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B5   EDITION: FINAL  

SOURCE: BY KENNAN NEWBOLD, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:   50 lines

CORRECTION/CLARIFICATION: * The Titanic exhibit that was on display at Nauticus from November to March is not part of the larger Titanic exhibit in Memphis. A story in Wednesday's Hampton Roads section had an error. Correction published Thursday, April 3, 1997. * FEWER THAN HOPED SAW TITANIC EXHIBIT AFTER 4 MONTHS AND 55,000 VISITORS, THE SHIP'S REMAINS MOVE FROM NAUTICUS TO MEMPHIS.

``Titanic: The expedition'' has left the building - where it attracted far fewer people than Nauticus officials had hoped.

The exhibit, which debuted at Nauticus on Nov. 27, packed up its Marconi telegraph, silver soup tureen and hull plating and set sail Monday for Memphis, Tenn.

Nauticus officials, who had hoped to boost the center's declining attendance while the exhibit was in town, will miss it.

According to David Guernsey Jr., director of the Maritime Center, just over 55,000 people visited the exhibit. Officials had hoped it would draw between 150,000 and 250,000 people from across the region and the nation.

But Guernsey said Tuesday he considers it a success.

``That's double what we did during the same period last year. It helped very much. And I think everyone is proud of the fact that we premiered it in Norfolk.''

Attendance at the $53 million science and technology attraction on Norfolk's downtown waterfront has been in decline since it opened. It drew 383,000 in 1994, 278,000 in 1995 and 250,000 last year.

In January, Nauticus became a city agency after it was unable to meet operating costs on its own.

But the center's staff is working hard to keep attendance up and turn things around, Guernsey said.

``We have nothing new to announce at the moment . . . but stay tuned.'' ILLUSTRATION: IAN MARTIN/The Virginian-Pilot

Nauticus Exhibits Manager Al Clark takes down the banners for

``Titanic: The expedition'' Monday. Officials wanted the exhibit to

lure more visitors - they initially hoped for between 150,000 and

250,000 people - to Nauticus, where attendance has sagged yearly

since it opened.