PORT TOWNSEND — Businesses hunkering down for the slow post-holiday season will get a boost next week as a naval shore leave program from a visiting aircraft carrier could pump as many as 1,000 new visitors on four consecutive nights.
The USS John C. Stennis, stationed in Bremerton, will dock at Naval Magazine Indian Island on Monday to load ordnance in advance of a deployment.
“We have heard that Port Townsend is a very nice place and there is nothing for the crew to do on base,” said Lt. Cmdr. Sarah Higgins, the Stennis’ spokesperson.
“We wanted to give them something interesting to do during their free time after the day’s work is done.”
The Stennis has more than 3,000 crew members. Each day, up to 1,000 of them will be bused to Port Townsend, arriving around 4:20 p.m. and returning to the ship by midnight.
Their liberty will end earlier on Thursday.
This has prompted a behavioral change: Many businesses in Port Townsend close as early as 5 p.m. and don’t expect much business during the winter.
The visit was finalized Tuesday morning after representatives of the Navy, the Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce, the city and the Port Townsend Main Street program hammered out the details.
The action item from that meeting is to inform all the bars and restaurants about a possible business increase and to encourage businesses to stay open until 7 p.m.
“To have 1,000 people with money to spend on the streets of Port Townsend during the dead winter months makes me want to sing ‘Hallelujah!’” said Paul Rice, owner of Middletown Dreams, 213 Taylor St.
Rice said he is adding staff and increasing the beer order for the popular downtown bar.
Bars with televisions are expecting a larger crowd Monday evening, when the NCAA football finale between Ohio State University and University of Oregon begins at 5:30 p.m.
One potentially crowded place will be the Tin Brick, 232 Taylor St., which owner Harry Doyle said will attract sailors for both its food and the football.
“There are lot of guys in the Navy from Philadelphia, and they haven’t had a grilled cheese steak for a long time,” Doyle said.
“They are going to be very happy here.”
Chamber of Commerce Events Director Laura Brackenridge said the Navy contacted the chamber in December about the possibility of a shore leave but did not make contact again until Jan. 2.
“They told us that there will be a lot of people eating drinking and shopping,” Brackenridge said.
“It’s like a college coming to your town; a bunch of college kids taking over.”
The majority of the crew is men in their early 20s with about 10 percent women, Higgins said.
“It’s a fantastic opportunity for our businesses to have more than a thousand people in town for four evenings — and in the middle of January, since this is often a slow time of year for us, said Christina Pivarnik, marketing director for the city of Port Townsend.
“We’re grateful to each of the businesses willing to stay open later while the sailors are in town.”
Many business operators said they were unconvinced.
William James Booksellers owner Paul Stafford said he won’t commit to staying open past his regular 5 p.m. closing, adding that many requests from Main Street to stay open for visitors or events haven’t paid off.
“We’ll take it as it comes,” he said.
“If there are still a lot of people in the store at 5:30, we’ll stay open, but if there’s no one here, we’ll close.”
Several other merchants said they would adopt a wait-and-see attitude.
“I will stay open late in the hope they will be here, but I doubt it,” said Lois Venarchick, owner of Wynwoods Bead Gallery, 940 Water St.
“I’m not counting on any business.
“They might stroll through here, but I don’t think I’ll see a lot of new business.
“I’d love to be proven wrong.”
Main Street’s Dawn Pierson said she expects that bars and restaurants will get the boost, “but the benefit for the rest is unknown.”
When the Stennis leaves Indian Island, it will head south to conduct training off the coast near San Diego and then return to Bremerton, Higgins said.
This will be the sixth aircraft carrier visit at Indian Island since 2000.
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Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
