The letter “Coast Guard Museum: Time to think small” (June 1), suggested locating the USCG museum in the unused Fort Trumbull area, and as a retired USCG veteran, I totally agree. While attending a Coast Guard training class in Petaluma, Calif., we were advised to develop a vision for a project we were considering. Accordingly, the vision developed for the new museum is much different from the powers that be. 

To provide adequate parking, avoid railroad tracks and a questionable bridge elevator over the tracks, locate the museum in the Fort Trumbull area, the original site of the USCG Academy. This would avoid what may be the most congested traffic in New London and provide easy access. It would provide the space to locate some venerable rescue boats in front of the museum, such as the wooden lifeboat, the steel 40-footer, the aluminum 41-footer, and the 44 that could survive a 360-degree turnover.

It might also be prudent to re-establish the iconic landmark, Hughie’s restaurant, in the same area. People I had met during West Coast duty told me they couldn’t wait to come back to visit Block Island and Hughie's.

William R. Antonowicz

USN/USCG (ret)

Ledyard