Take it out of the water and put in in a climate controlled pavilion. That seems to be the good fate of all old ships that end up being preserved.
I agree. Why do they need to either get the 20 Million or Scrap the Ship? Why not remove her from the Water? Why only the Two choices of destruction or current Funding? Especially as funding will not come.
She's over 5K-ton and almost 350' long. That would be one hell of a pavilion.
It would be great to restore her and sail her again, but I'm sure that would cost well in excess of $100M, just to make her seaworthy again. The $20M they're asking for probably only covers paint and limited minimal repair over a fairly short period of time.