Photo by Saul Young

The Titanic Pigeon Forge takes shape last month along the Pigeon Forge Parkway. The museum attraction is due to open next spring.

PIGEON FORGE - Half of the world's most famous ill-fated ship is being reconstructed in the Tennessee hills.

A 30,000-square-foot replica of the Titanic is being built against the mountain backdrop of Pigeon Forge. The forward half of the ship will be re-created; it is half the size of the ocean liner sunk by an iceberg on its 1912 maiden voyage.

Estimated opening date for the "museum attraction" Titanic Pigeon Forge is April 2010.

Built atop a hill next to the Black Bear Jamboree, the building seems to jut almost onto Pigeon Forge Parkway. When complete, its "bow" will sit in water, giving the illusion of being on the open sea in landlocked Tennessee.

Construction already attracts the curious. A preview center in an 18-wheel trailer on the site's parking lot is staffed by an employee dressed in a ship uniform and offers a glimpse of what's being built next door. Visitors are invited to dip their hands into a basin of 28-degree water, the temperature of the water into which Titanic passengers fell.

This is the second Titanic by Branson, Mo.-based Cedar Bay Entertainment. More than 1.6 million people have visited the Branson Titanic since its April 2006 opening, said firm co-owner Mary Kellogg. "It's a family experience. This is an active museum, not a passive museum," she said. "We added (the word) attraction because you are experiencing the Titanic."

That mix of history and entertainment is illustrated by the Pigeon Forge preview center's tiny gift shop and the Branson attraction's online store. Items include historic books as well as a Rose doll and "Heart of the Ocean" necklaces from the 1997 movie "Titanic" starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet.

Each visitor to the Pigeon Forge museum attraction will receive a boarding pass with the name of a real passenger or crew member. A "memorial wall" at the end of the self-guided tour will show who survived and who perished. Visitors will not only touch 28-degree water but walk on the pretend bridge, shovel coal, send a wireless SOS, touch a fake iceberg and get into a lifeboat. They can walk a full-size replica of the Titanic's famous staircase between A- and B-decks with its glass-and-wrought-iron dome. They will stand on small decks that illustrate how the Titanic's deck sloped steeper as the ship sank. Reproductions will include the wireless room, a first-class suite and a third-class cabin.

An estimated 350 Titanic items will be displayed. Among them will be a life jacket Kellogg said was worn by Madeleine Force Astor. The 18-year-old pregnant wife of millionaire John Jacob Astor survived; her husband did not. No artifacts were salvaged from the real Titanic wreck site but came from survivors' families or auctions.

Amy McRary may be reached at 865-342-6437.

© 2009, Knoxville News Sentinel
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