Patriots Point Plans Big Announcement

Patriots Point will make a "landmark" announcement Wednesday aimed at reviving the Mount Pleasant tourist attraction.

"This project — the most significant decision to come from Patriots Point in decades — will have a lasting economic impact on Charleston and the State of South Carolina," said spokeswoman Ashley Smith in an email to reporters, but no specifics were offered.

Patriots Point for at least a year has been planning a massive redevelopment aimed at turning around the ailing tourist attraction beset in recent years by looming financial obligations.

A nationally known tourism consultant, PGAV Destinations, has been working closely with Patriots Point. A small and slightly blurred image attached to a press release announcing the partnership on PGAV's website shows a vastly different Patriots Point, but it's not clear if Wednesday's announcement will reveal all the details of that overhaul.

Earlier this month, however, Patriots Point began talks with the Town of Mount Pleasant to acquire a portion of Patriots Point Boulevard that fronts the Cooper River.

Mount Pleasant Mayor Billy Swails said the land acquisition would accomodate a Patriots Point wouldn't confirm those plans, but the museum's board has been in private talks with the Medal of Honor Society for months.

Already, the USS Yorktown is home to a Medal of Honor Museum, but this new landside facility would presumably be larger in scale and located on land.

Wednesday's announcement fits into Patriots Points redevelopment plans, which call for increased development on the museum's 36 acres of undeveloped waterfront property. All the property is owned by the State of South Carolina.

Among the discussions are plans for an eco-tourism adventure park at the facility, which would feature an 850-foot zip line from the deck of the USS Yorktown to the shore, according to reports.

The overall redevelopment calls for a "nationally prominent cultural destination," according to PGAV's news release. The announcement is planned for 11:15 a.m. Wednesday in the Hangar Bay aboard the USS Yorktown.