FORT PIERCE — The Board of Directors of the National Navy UDT-SEAL Museum has re-affirmed that Fort Pierce is the proper permanent location of the Museum and will not relocate.
The reaffirmation was made in a board vote Feb. 18 after former longtime director Mike Howard of Vero Beach wrote an opinion piece for the Norfolk, Va., Pilot saying the Navy SEAL museum leave Fort Pierce and move to Hampton Roads, Va. Howard said the move would put the museum close to where active military and SEALS in training.
On the Treasure Coast, the op-ed piece invoked an immediate show of public support for keeping the museum in Fort Pierce. The town has been home to the National Navy UDT-SEAL Museum for 30 years, and was the birthplace of the US Navy Frogman.
“We are in an unprecedented period of growth at the National Navy UDT-SEAL Museum thanks to our supporters along the Treasure Coast, South Florida and the entire Country,” said Executive Director Master Chief Rick Kaiser, a retired SEAL. Additionally, we are in the midst of a 2.2 million dollar renovation which will be completed this April.”
“The Museum isn’t going anywhere. The idea of relocating defies logic and will not get in the way of our Mission: preserving the history and heritage of the Navy SEALs and their predecessors, honoring our fallen at the Navy SEAL Memorial and supporting our families through the Trident House charities program. The museum is staying in Florida.”