A Conversation with Mac Burdette, Executive Director of Patriots Point

By Alan Cooper
December 8, 2013
 

LowcountryBizSC:
What is Patriots Point?

Mac Burdette:
First and foremost, we are South Carolina’s naval and maritime museum.  As such, we are a state agency. The Patriots Point Development Authority was established in the mid 1970’s by an act of the General Assembly. The centerpiece of the museum, and perhaps what we are most known for, is the World War II aircraft carrier, the USS Yorktown that sits right here in Charleston Harbor. 

We also have other ships on site. The USS Laffey is a destroyer that saw service in the Pacific Ocean during WW II.  Patriots Point is also home to the Congressional Medal of Honor Society headquarters and the Medal of Honor Museum.  This past August, we signed a Memorandum of Understanding to move theMedal of Honor Museum from its current location on the USS Yorktown to a permanent waterfront area on Charleston Harbor at Patriots Point.

But, the business of Patriots Point is a lot more than not just selling tickets to the Naval and Maritime Museum. We have multiple revenue streams. Leases on the 360 acres of land that we own on Charleston Harbor represent 17% of our revenue.  We have one of the largest overnight education and camping programs in the nation. Our Institute of History, Science and Technology educates over 16,000 students annually from all over the state of South Carolina. With $1.7 Million in sales last year, we have the largest grossing gift shop in the state of South Carolina.  Moreover, we average one event rental per day on the Yorktown and on our property.

Our economic impact on the state is close to $50 million a year.  It is important for everyone to understand that we do not receive an annual appropriation of state revenue. What we spend, we have to earn.  We are proud thatwe don’t ask the taxpayers for annual allocation of state revenues. 

LowcountryBizSC:
What is your impact in terms of tourism?

Mac Burdette:
30% of our business comes from local residents; 70% comes from outside the Tri-County area.  We recently hired the University of South Carolina to conduct in-depth surveys that will allow us to target our marketing more precisely and more strategically.  Key states are certainly North Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, but we also attract a large number of visitors from Indiana and Ohio as well. Overall, we sell 250,000 tickets annually, a number that does not include those under age six and active-duty military who enter the museum at no charge. Our impact is certainly significant. 

 Here is the full video of Mac Burdette

LowcountryBizSC:
What are some of the challenges that you face at Patriots Point?

Mac Burdette:
Maintaining our ships is the biggest challenge.  We have seventy year-old ships sitting in salt water – enough said. Operationally, we make enough money to run the museum, but putting enough money aside to perpetually maintain these ships is a challenge.  The land is a major key, or more specifically, the revenue that we earn by leasing the land is key to our future.  On the 360 we own, acres, we have a golf course, a hotel property, a marina, and a major restaurant; all of which are leased.  We also lease 36 acres to the College of Charleston and the Town of Mount Pleasant for recreational and sports facilities. 

Our Board is currently working on a strategic marketing plan for 50 acres that is under our jurisdiction and that is NOT leased.  This plan is critical to our long-term revenue. If we can increase our lease revenue from the current level of $1.7M a year to $5M a year, as well as grow our operational revenue, we will be able to set aside 100% of our lease revenue to maintain ships.  Then, we could approach the Budget and Control Board of South Carolina and request to issue bonds to raise in the neighborhood of $20M.  This would allow us to make major improvements to the ships.  We would pay back the bonds through our lease revenue.  

People often ask us why we simply don’t just sell the land. While that is an option, if we did that, the land would pretty much be gone forever, lost to the people of South Carolina and we would lose the opportunity to create an annual revenue stream for the long term.

LowcountryBizSC:
How do you make a museum relevant for the 21st century?

Mac Burdette:
When the USS Yorktown was brought here and the doors opened as a museum in 1976, there were approximately 10 million living WWII and Korean War Veterans. Today, there are less that 2 million.  So, our audience has changed; we have to change, too. Our challenge is this – how can we tell the stories of the men who fought from these ships more effectively using technology?

When you go in to the aft, 5-inch gun mount on the Laffey today, you may find it interesting, but you will most likely walk out of there not really understanding how the sailors defended that ship.  You may walk out of there with no emotional attachment to the ship. We are trying to fix that.

In October, we introduced our first, new prototype, interactive exhibit inside that 5-inch gun mount on the Laffey. When you enter the exhibit and pull the hatch behind you, there is a big video screen in this small, 10 ft. by 12 ft. space. You will be informed that it is April 16, 1945 and that you, as a crew member, are on picket duty off the coast of Okinawa. Fifty Japanese airplanes are seen approaching from the southwest.  Five of those airplanes have peeled off and are headed straight for the Laffey.  It will tell the story, using historic film footage off what happened that day.

In the end, you will hopefully walk out of the exhibit with an understanding about their crew members’ sacrifice and what it takes to remain a free and independent country.