The Hero Foundation

The cover of the Hero Foundation brochure

In April 1986, the folks in Reedsport formed the International Oceanographic Hero Foundation (IOHF) and published an impressive brochure. The cover photo above featuring the Hero was taken from the Argentine station Almirante Brown, in Paradise Bay (64° 53'S-62° 53'W), on the Antarctic Peninsula east of Palmer Station. The photo (©1971 by the National Geographic Society), was taken by Bill Curtsinger. It appeared in a feature article in their November, 1971 magazine. While on this venture Bill spent a bunch of time aboard the Hero as well as the Alpha Helix, another research vessel that also spent time at Palmer during the 1970-71 season. Oh, at left is an inset of the Hero, as originally colored, from the original magazine photo.

In addtion to the Hero moorings, the plans for the Hero Foundation project originally included a museum to rival the Antarctic Centre later constructed in Christchurch, complete with a "cold room," a live penguin display, a registry of all Antarcticans, and accommodation and conference facilities. These were to include a geodesic dome; not the one from Pole, but a smaller replica. Below is the centerfold of the brochure

Below are two more pages from the brochure. The pages not seen here include
brief paragraphs about Antarctic explorers, and Exploratorium testimonials.

In the 1990's the organization had a different name, the Richard E. Byrd Antarctic Center, and the Hero was displayed at the Umpqua Discovery Center (left, mid-90's photo by Dr. Joseph D. Ortiz. Plans included acquiring the retired icebreaker Glacier and Antarctic aircraft. The group was fairly successful at raising money (right), but nowhere near the $20+ million required for the project.

The next step...