Friday, April 29, 2011
Associated Press
TITUSVILLE, Fla.
Florida Space Coast hotels are sold out, residents are renting bedrooms, and restaurants are doubling food supplies as thousands of tourists arriving for today’s launch of space shuttle Endeavour are boosting a region fearing its economic future.
The launch is the next-to-last for the program, and President Barack Obama and his family will be in attendance.
“The shuttle program is winding down, and this is something that is on everybody’s bucket list,” said Rob Varley, the area’s top tourism official. “For many people, it’s like ‘Uh-oh. We only have two more chances to see one.’”
The mission also is attracting extra attention because its commander is Mark Kelly, whose wife is Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. She was shot in the head in a January assassination attempt but arrived at Cape Canaveral on Wednesday and is expected to watch the launch from a private location.
Crowd estimates vary widely — Brevard County expects 250,000 visitors will attend. NASA’s launch director says more than 500,000. And Varley is guessing 700,000. That figure would rival John Glenn’s space-shuttle launch in 1998 and those from some of the Apollo moon launches in the 1960s and 1970s.
Endeavour’s launch may be one of the last economic jolts the region gets as the space-shuttle program winds down this summer. Economic prospects for the area are precarious. The Space Coast still is reeling from Florida’s housing slump, NASA contractors already have laid off thousands of workers, and the unemployment rate is more than 11 percent. Empty storefronts dot some shopping malls, and vacant condos are common along the beach.
Shuttle launches usually generate about $5 million in economic activity for the Space Coast. Given the huge crowds expected, the Endeavour launch could generate more than $15 million, Varley said.
By Thursday morning, spectators had started setting up tents and campers along the Indian River in Titusville, a spot that offers an unobstructed view of the launch pad.
Hotel reservations are almost impossible to get, so some homeowners and apartment-building managers are renting out spare bedrooms and empty units.
The storage space at Dixie Crossroads Seafood Restaurant is jammed full with extra dry goods, paper plates and napkins. Owner Lauralee Thompson expects business to more than double today from the usual 1,500 daily diners to more than 3,000 patrons.