A busy Battleship Missouri Memorial extends hours

The historic Battleship Missouri Memorial is extending its hours to accommodate increased visitor demand. The nonprofit Pearl Harbor attraction now will welcome visitors from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, opening 90 minutes earlier than it did previously. The extended hours will remain at least until Labor Day, and if demand continues the memorial will consider making the hours permanent. The new hours will apply also for the Pacific Aviation Museum Pearl Harbor and shuttle buses.

“Over the last 18 months, we have experienced a doubling of visitors arriving between 9 and 10 a.m. at the Battleship Missouri Memorial,” said Michael A. Carr, president and chief operating officer of the memorial.

On June 4, the nonprofit memorial greeted its 4 millionth visitor since it opened to visitors in 1999. It is the 12th busiest visitor attraction on the Islands, according to Pacific Business News. A total of 389,114 people visited the site in 2008, the most recent year for which data is available. The WWII Valor in the Pacific National Monument, which includes the USS Arizona Memorial, is the state’s No. 1 visitor attraction, with more than 1.4 million annual visitors.

Early this year the Missouri returned from dry-dock, completing $18 million worth of needed maintenance and preservation. The nonprofit USS Missouri Memorial Association owns and operates the decommissioned U.S. battleship while overseeing its care and preservation with the support of memberships, grants, donations and visitors – 4 million of them.