USS St. Louis veterans want the Lou brought to the St. Louis area

USS St. Louis (LKA-116), 1976, from Wikipedia

On of my connections to St. Louis--yes, I live in Chicago; yes, I was raised in Oak Park; and yes, I was born in Urbana--is that I served on USS St. Louis (LKA-116) (Facebook group: USS ST. LOUIS LKA-116 Crew and family).

In fact, I was the navigator and administrative officer for the year or so before the ship was decommissioned on November 2, 1992. If you don't remember that date, it was the first day a Democrat won election as President of the United States since 1976.

Since being decommissioned as a U.S. Navy warship, the Lou has been mothballed as part of the "inactive reserve fleet" in Pearl Harbor, HI. The normal disposition of the ship would be to scrap her, most likely to salvage the metal.

Some Lou veterans would like to see her converted into a museum and commercial facility (shops or a casino). The natural place to do this would be in St. Louis, Missouri.

There are a bunch of logistical, architectural, legal and financial issues that would need be addressed.

But I know from my personal perspective, it would be really cool to have the Lou in the St. Louis area where the veterans of the Lou and their families could have a reunion every year.