San Diego’s best entertainment value, both fun and educational, may be the USS Midway Museum at 910 North Harbor Drive.
The President of the United States, George W. Bush, and First Lady Laura Bush definitely think so as they recently recognized the museum with one of their four annual Preserve America Presidential Award honors at a ceremony in the Rose Garden at the White House on May 9.
“This is a program which the President and First Lady created three years ago to acknowledge the efforts of those who help preserve, promote and honor the history of our country,” explained Scott McGaugh, marketing director for the USS Midway Museum. “In the three years we are the first museum to win one of the awards.”
McGaugh and museum President and CEO John W. “Mac” McLaughlin attended the presentation at the White House.
They were unable to meet the President, who had been scheduled to be at the ceremony but had to fly to Kansas after a deadly tornado hit areas of the state.
Laura Bush presented the awards. According to McGaugh, the experience is one he will always remember.
“It was exciting, humbling and an honor,” he said. “We were able to tour the White House, West Wing and Oval Office. ‘Scott McGaugh’ and ‘Oval Office’ are not words which I ever imagined being said or written in the same sentence.”
The process leading to the selection was part grinding and part waiting game.
“I received an e-mail last October about the award, and the deadline was literally the following week,” McGaugh said. “The application was 200 pages long, in a three-ring binder. It required documents, photos and samples. It was very challenging.”
After McGaugh sent in the application, other than acknowledgment of receiving it, he heard nothing for four months. Then word came the museum had made the final “cut,” which was one step away from actually winning an award.
“After that it was a couple of weeks of waiting and praying until we were notified we had been selected,” he said.
Other award winners this year are television’s The History Channel, a small community in Louisiana for promoting tourism and a St. Louis downtown development project.
Coincidentally, like the award the museum has also only been in existence for three years.
Yet during that time the 75,000-ton ship, which is the length of three football fields, has continued to expand the experiences it offers to visitors.
To do this, there are at present 60 different sections of the ship that are part of a self-guided audio tour that comes with the price of admission. Every year more sections accessible to the public are added.
“What makes the audio tour even more appealing is the fact we have not hired some professional narrator,” McGaugh said.
“When you go to a specific area of the ship you will hear the voice of one of the 225,000 sailors who served on the ship during its 47-year history who actually worked in that section. It might be someone from World War II, Desert Storm or from some other time period.”
The museum is not intended just for military buffs or veterans.
“This is not just an old naval ship with some planes and bombs to look at,” McGaugh said. “Our goal, from the beginning and continues to be, to create a family-oriented experience.”
A recently opened area of the ship is the command center, where visitors can get a firsthand idea of what it was like during Operation Desert Storm.
“The Midway was the flagship for the naval air operations of Desert Storm,” McGaugh explained. “Right when you enter the center you will be greeted by an audiovisual presentation of Admiral Dan March, who was in charge at the time. It is a very immersive experience rather than just observing.”
The museum, which McGaugh describes as having “a lot of world history,” also offers educational programs.
“One of the aspects which impressed the presidential committee reviewing our application is the fact we have 30,000 fourth- and fifth-graders a year who come to the museum on field trips,” he said.
“There are hands-on math and science exhibits. It is a great opportunity to learn about things like magnetism and weather.”
According to McGaugh, the program is being expanded down to second-graders and up to high school students.
“In addition to the audio tour we have activities like flight simulators, which give you the experience of what it is like to take off and land a plane on an aircraft carrier,” he explained. “There is also a gift shop and café so you can have something to eat and drink on the ship.”
Attendance numbers show the museum will only continue to grow in popularity.
“We average 800,000 visitors a year and have had over 2.6 million visitors since it first opened,” McGaugh said. “We are the most visited floating museum in the world.”
The USS Midway Museum is open seven days a week and is closed only two days a year (on Thanksgiving and Christmas).
The museum operates from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Last admission is 4 p.m.
Admission prices are $15 for adults; $10 for seniors, military personnel and students; and $5 for youths ages 6 to 17.For more information call 619-544-9600 or visit www.midway.org.