Struggle to secure old sub's sail

After a decade of failed attempts, a local veterans group will try again this fall to work with city officials on securing a Cold War monument site based around remnants of the USS Phoenix submarine.

The veterans fighting for the shrine never served on the city's namesake sub. But they feel a connection to the Cold War-era nuclear attack ship and they want to bring its remains to Phoenix.

The city-appointed group, the USS Phoenix Commission, will likely be disbanded in December. Peter Lumianski, one of the original commission members from its inception in 1989, said the group modified its proposal for the city to build the submarine shrine at Steele Indian School Park after city staff balked at the scope of original proposals.

To complete the shrine, the commission would have to receive approval from city park officials to work later with the U.S. Navy to move the submarine's sail and rudder to Phoenix. The sail is the 18-foot-high, tower-like structure that houses the ship's periscope and communications components.

The Phoenix Parks and Recreation Board will hear the presentation Oct. 23. Lumianski and others said if a site is approved, it could take until 2012 to move the submarine parts to Phoenix.

"You have to lean on the Navy to get it cut up, pay to truck it here . . . this is a project that will outlive me," said Lumianski, of the USS Phoenix Commission.

The U.S. Navy commissioned the USS Phoenix in 1979 to engage Russian submarines. In 1989, then-Phoenix Mayor Terry Goddard arranged for a group of Phoenix residents to work with the Navy to develop a relationship with the submarine. In 1997, the Navy decommissioned the Phoenix.

"This would be just one way to credit not only the people who rode that particular ship, but for the rest us who spent our careers under the umbrellas of the Cold War," said Jim Denzien, vice commander of the Phoenix chapter of Perch Base, a submarine veterans group that could soon take up the fight to build a USS Phoenix monument.

Issues at a glance

ISSUE: The city's USS Phoenix Commission could be discontinued in December.

SUBMARINE ADVOCATES' GOAL: Commission vice chairman Peter Lumianski and his colleagues will likely pass control of the USS Phoenix fight to a submarine veterans group Perch Base.

WHAT'S NEXT? Perch Base vice commander Jim Denzien said he hopes to help work with the U.S. Navy to get the sub remnants to Arizona after the original group is disbanded.

ISSUE: The exact site at Steele Indian School Park is in limbo.

SUBMARINE ADVOCATES' GOAL: The USS Phoenix Commission will make its next presentation to the city's Parks and Recreation Board on Oct. 23.

WHAT'S NEXT? If approved, the commission or Perch Base will collect donations to secure the parts and construction for the USS Phoenix shrine.

ISSUE: The submarine is held by the U.S. Navy in the Seattle area. If a site is approved by Phoenix, it could take the Navy until 2012 to release parts for the park shrine.

SUBMARINE ADVOCATES' GOAL: Veterans groups hope to secure approval from Phoenix officials for park space before making a formal request with the Navy.

WHAT'S NEXT? The decommissioned nuclear sub must be carefully disassembled, with consideration to radioactive material. The Navy is also busy with routine ship maintenance.

"This would be just one way to credit not only the people who rode that particular ship, but for the rest us who spent our careers under the umbrellas of the Cold War," said Jim Denzien, vice commander of the Phoenix chapter of Perch Base.