Like the headstrong officers of a doomed ocean liner, the owners of Titanic: The Experience -- a Titanic museum in Orlando, Florida, formerly known as Titantic: Ship of Dreams -- apparently preferred not to see warnings of danger ahead. The attraction was part of a big shopping plaza, but in early 2007 the landlord announced that it planned to demolish the plaza to build an even bigger shopping plaza. Titanic was on a month-to-month lease, and reportedly had been in conversations with the landlord about moving into the new facility once it had been built. But there were misunderstandings as well, and ultimately a calamitous breakdown in communication.

Things came to a head on August 20, 2007, when Titanic employees showed up for work and found that the museum's locks had been changed and that strange men were inside, hauling its exhibits out to the sidewalk. The artifacts had survived a soaking in the frigid Atlantic, but how long could they last in the hothouse humidity of summertime Orlando?

Happily, they never had to have their endurance tested. Within four days the attraction and the landlord had reached an amicable compromise. Titanic: The Experience would be allowed to remain open through Labor Day weekend, and it would then be given the rest of the month of September to get its stuff out.

Amid much clatter and ringing of phones, we were able to reach Dave Christensen, Titanic's senior vice president for business development. "We're already planning a grand re-opening," he told us with bravado. "But I'm not at liberty yet to announce the new location." We thought of saying something saucy about not being able to keep a good sunken ship down, but instead asked if its resurrection would be nearby or far away. "It will be in Orlando," said Christensen. "Absolutely."

[08/26/2007]