WEST CHESTER TWP, Ohio — A piece of Cincinnati’s naval history will become the center of a free community event Thursday as part of Cincinnati Navy Week.
WATCH: A full-size submarine display is becoming more than a memorial; it’s also a classroom for the next generation.
The USS Cincinnati Peace Pavilion at VOA MetroPark in West Chester will host a Navy Week event from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 17.
Cincinnati is one of 12 cities selected to host Navy Week this year. The week is designed to bring sailors, veterans and Navy programs into communities without a large naval presence.
The event will feature:
- Docent-led tours of the USS Cincinnati Peace Pavilion
- A Navy Drill Team at 5:30 p.m.
- A Navy Band Northeast performance from 6 to 6:30 p.m.
- A parachute jumper carrying American and Navy flags at 6 p.m.
- Naval history and operations displays
- STEM education activities
- The MidPointe Library Book Mobile
- Local submarine veterans available to talk with visitors
- Food trucks, refreshments and giveaways
WATCH: Navy Week brings sailors, outreach and history to Cincinnati
From memorial to classroom
The USS Cincinnati Peace Pavilion is a full-size representation of the USS Cincinnati, a nuclear-powered submarine that served during the Cold War.
The pavilion incorporates actual artifacts from the submarine, including its upper rudder, conning tower and reserve diesel generator.
Joseph Jaap, president of the Submarine Cincinnati Memorial Association, said education is one of the project's primary goals.
“One of our primary goals for the memorial is education of young folks,” Jaap said. “We need kids to participate and think of career goals, both STEM: science, technology, engineering and math. We need skilled trades.”
Visitors can learn about the technology behind submarines and the many types of workers needed to build them.
That includes welders, electricians, plumbers, pipe fitters and other skilled trades, in addition to engineers and nuclear-power operators.
Jaap said organizers want young people to see the pavilion and begin asking how something that large and complex can be built.
The full-size design is intentional, he said, giving students a physical sense of the scale of a nuclear-powered submarine while opening the door to lessons about science, technology, engineering and math.
A week of Navy outreach
Thursday’s event is part of a larger Cincinnati Navy Week running Sept. 13 through Sept. 20.
Throughout the week, sailors and Navy representatives are taking part in community events, including outreach with students, scouts and small businesses.
For the USS Cincinnati Peace Pavilion, the week offers another opportunity to connect people in Southwest Ohio with naval history and the people who lived it.
About 20 local submarine veterans will serve as tour guides Thursday, sharing their experiences and explaining what it was like to live aboard a submarine for months at a time underwater.
The event is free, and parking is free.
It runs from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday at the USS Cincinnati Peace Pavilion at VOA MetroPark in West Chester.
