BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — A pair of local landmarks used in World War II could be called to duty once again by the COVID-19 Pandemic. The Buffalo and Erie County Naval and Military Park has offered up the U.S.S. Little Rock as a facility to care for coronavirus patients.
"With 1100 sailors [when the ship was active], we would only be able to accommodate up to two hundred, keeping social distance as recommended." Naval Park president and CEO Paul Marzello said.
If Erie County takes up the Naval and Military Park on its offer, there are several measures that would have to be taken. Both the Little Rock and the U.S.S. Sullivans both have electricity and plumbing; but more would have to be done.
"We'd need to bring in the army corps of engineers," Marzello said. "They'd be responsible to come in, assess the ships as they currently are, and make the changes necessary to deliver those kinds of services."
Marzello didn't lay out a timetable for the changes that would have to be made.
