From Skyler Swisher: “Palm Beach County wants to sink Cold War-era sub to create artificial reef ”

About the reporter: Skyler Swisher is a Sun Sentinel reporter covering Palm Beach County government. Before joining the Sun Sentinel, he wrote about health care for The Daytona Beach News-Journal. A native of Memphis, he is a graduate of the University of Tennessee.

Here is the reporter’s latest news, an excerpt:

A Cold War-era submarine on display at a maritime museum in South Carolina could be sent to the bottom of the sea about a mile off the coast of Palm Beach County.
     The USS Clamagore, a designated historic landmark built during the last months of World War II, is one of three vessels featured at the Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum on Charleston Harbor.
     But museum officials say it’s not cost effective to keep the aging sub as an attraction. Restoring the boat is estimated to cost $6 million, and annual upkeep runs about $250,000, said Chris Hauff, a museum spokesman.
     “The cost of maintaining these 70-year-old warships floating in salt water in Charleston Harbor can be very high,” he said. “We have exhausted all other options as far as finding a new home for it.”