Last month the secretary of the Navy made it official. The historic USS Midway aircraft carrier is destined for a Downtown San Diego opening in 2004. The decision is the culmination of a decade-long campaign by a broad base of Downtown individuals and organizations launched shortly after Midway was decommissioned at North Island in 1992.

The carrier will be moored on the south side of Navy Pier along the North Embarcadero and be operated by the nonprofit San Diego Aircraft Carrier Museum. Last month, pier ownership was transferred to the Port, which in turn has signed a long-term berthing lease with the museum. Plans call for several hundred parking spaces to be created on the pier and for the San Diego Symphony to continue using the pier for its Summer Pops series.

Details leading up to Midway’s grand opening next spring still are being finalized. Organizers are working toward towing Midway to San Diego in early December, where it will be outfitted as a museum over the winter before its grand opening.

Midway’s opening and the opening of Petco Park could be Downtown San Diego’s foremost events in 2004.

Grand opening exhibits are expected to include a number of restored aircraft, multiple displays on the hangar deck, flight deck and in the island, and one of the largest Navy artifact collections outside the Smithsonian.

Economic impacts promise to be widespread.

Independent tourism industry officials predict Midway will draw up to 400,000 visitors in its first year. Organizers have likened the carrier museum to the anchor store of a shopping center, drawing visitors and locals to nearby North Embarcadero attractions, restaurants and support businesses. A number of cross-promotions with other Downtown area attractions are being developed.

The San Diego Convention & Visitors Bureau already is preparing to leverage Midway as a meetings attraction.

Convention planners frequently request to hold an event aboard a carrier. Less than a mile from the convention center, Midway will be able to accommodate those requests for the first time. ConVis has begun working with the carrier’s marketing officials to develop promotional programs to showcase Midway as “What’s New in San Diego” in both the convention and leisure markets.

One of the pre-opening promotions will be limited edition commemorative tickets.

Midway is expected to create about 75 new jobs and generate an economic impact of $20 million annually. Several hundred San Diegans also have volunteered to become docents for the San Diego Aircraft Carrier Museum.

For updated information, visit www.midway.org.

For more than eight years, Scott McGaugh has been involved with SDACM and has just written the first book on the 47-year history of the USS Midway. A sneak preview is available at www.midwaymagic.com