NORTH CAROLINA GENERAL ASSEMBLY
1965 SESSION

CHAPTER 1043
HOUSE BILL 1021

AN ACT TO APPROPRIATE FUNDS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CONFEDERATE GUNBOAT NEUSE.

WHEREAS, the Gunboat NEUSE, built near Kinston by Confederates and sunk in the Neuse River at Kinston in 1865, has been raised and relocated for permanent preservation and public exhibition on State property at the Governor Richard Caswell Memorial; and
WHEREAS, through the combined efforts of the Lenoir County Confederate Centennial Committee, the State Confederate Centennial Commission, the City of Kinston, the County of Lenoir, and many other interested groups and individuals a total of forty-two thousand dollars ($42,000.00) has been provided and expended on the project thus far; and
WHEREAS, a large number of fittings and other objects taken from the gunboat hull during salvage have been processed for exhibit but cannot be exhibited until a building for the purpose is provided; and
WHEREAS, the Richardson Foundation, the City of Kinston, and the Lenoir County Confederate Centennial Committee are willing to provide jointly fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000.00) toward the total project cost of forty thousand dollars ($40,000.00); and
WHEREAS, the Gunboat NEUSE and the museum for the artifacts need to be maintained and operated, beginning with fiscal year 1966-67; and
WHEREAS, the Gunboat NEUSE is a prime tourist attraction, drawing approximately 40,000 visitors per year at the present time: Now, therefore,

The General Assembly of North Carolina do enact:

Section 1.  There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Archives and History the sum of fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000.00) to be used in connection with the fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000.00) to be provided from other sources as above for the construction and equipping of a museum building, including the cost of landscaping and other reasonable expenditures.
Sec. 2.  There is appropriated to the Department of Archives and History for operation and maintenance of the Gunboat NEUSE, for the fiscal year 1966-67, the following:
Salaries and Wages	$3,408.00
Salaries and Wages Temporary	2,000.00
Supplies and Materials	300.00
Postage, Tel., Tel., Express	100.00
Motor Vehicle Operation	300.00
Light, Power, Water	400.00
Repairs and Alterations	500.00
Equipment	400.00
Motor Vehicle Purchase	1,500.00
_________
TOTAL	$8,908.00.
Sec. 3.  All laws and clauses of laws in conflict with this Act are hereby repealed.
Sec. 4.  This Act shall be in full force and effect upon its ratification.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified, this the 14th day of June, 1965.