Bill would require state to replace Saturn 1B rocket on I-65

The Alabama Senate has passed a bill to require the state to develop a replica to replace the Saturn 1B rocket at the Ardmore Welcome Center on Interstate 65 in north Alabama if it is determined the aging rocket cannot be restored.

The legislation is the latest development in an evolving story on the future of the rocket.

NASA owns the rocket, which has been on loan to the U.S. Space and Rocket Center and has stood as a landmark overlooking I-65 since 1979. In January, NASA said the rocket was deteriorating and needed to come down. The space agency estimated that repairs would exceed $7 million and said there were no guarantees the rocket could hold up to the process.

The bill, SB313 by Sen. Tom Butler, a Republican from Madison County, directs the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs to commission the design, construction, and installation of a replica if the original rocket is beyond restoration or repair. The bill says ADECA may contract with any other state or private entity to develop the replica. It says ADECA may accept public or private gifts, grants, and donations, including in-kind services, for the project and may use funds appropriated by the Legislature. The bill does not provide ADECA any funding for the project.

There is some indication that restoring the rocket might not be out of the question. A 2022 internal assessment by the U.S. Space & Rocket Center, obtained by AL.com, includes cost estimates for restoration, including one company saying it could complete the job for $5 million, far short of the $7 million cost NASA has projected. And a conservator working with a Huntsville group seeking to preserve the rocket said he believes restoration could cost even less still.

Read more: Is restoring Alabama welcome center rocket a feasible option?

Last Friday, the board that oversees the U.S. Space & Rocket Center gave its backing to preserving the rocket. The Alabama Space Science Exhibit Commission voted without dissent at its quarterly meeting to support a recommendation from board member Joe Fitzgerald that the rocket center “make every reasonable effort” to make sure the rocket at the under-renovation Interstate 65 welcome center just south of the Tennessee state line remains in place.

Read more: Rocket at Alabama welcome center wins small victory for survival

Butler’s bill replaced one he had introduced earlier that called for development of a replica to the rocket. The original bill included provisions to strengthen the penalties for removing monuments under the Alabama Memorial Preservation Act, which was passed in 2017 to protect Confederate monuments. That bill did not advance.

SB313 moves to the House of Representatives.