Not so long ago I wrote about the prospective fate of the fastest cruise liner in the world, the SS United States. You may recall that this 40 year-old ship is sitting mothballed in Philadelphia awaiting a decision about its future by the Norwegian Cruise Lines. As reported in the Philadelphia Inquirer, there is another ship biding its time in Philadelphia; the Olympia is the last remaining ship still whole and above water that played some role in the Spanish-American War (1898). If $20 million isn't found soon, the Olympia will become a reef off Cape May, New Jersey. As a piece of a seaport museum, it's become too expensive to keep up.
Historic "objects" need a constituent base if they are to continue to fill a need once their original purpose is satisfied. The Olympia has such a base, a group of folks who for some reason or another feel an affinity for the Olympia and are working to raise the money to stave off the ship's demise. Lucky Olympia!
You see, it's the folks that care for "some reason or another" who actually get to play a role in establishing priorities and determining how money will be used to preserve one historic item over another or support one particular worthy goal over another.