USS Monitor Artifact Conservation

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), through its Office of National Marine Sanctuaries, is seeking professional conservation services for the USS Monitor artifact collection, a federally owned heritage asset comprising over 5,000 individual artifacts and 210 tons of materials recovered from the Civil War ironclad USS Monitor. The services required include initial artifact stabilization treatments and ongoing preventive conservation care for items composed of ferrous metals, iron, wood, leather, textiles, and other organic and inorganic materials currently housed at The Mariners' Museum and Park in Newport News, Virginia. Contractors must maintain industrial-scale wet-laboratory facilities with specialized infrastructure including watertight desalination tanks, cold storage for organic materials, mechanical cleaning workspace, and proper storage and display preparation areas, staffed by personnel holding advanced degrees or professional hands-on experience in archaeological conservation, analytical chemistry, or collection management. NOAA intends to award this contract as a sole source procurement to The Mariners' Museum and Park based on the unique specialized infrastructure already in place at the facility and the critical knowledge of the artifacts' treatment history held by existing staff. Organizations that believe they can meet the stated requirements must submit a written capability statement with detailed technical information demonstrating facility infrastructure, personnel qualifications, and relevant prior experience to Carley Flaxman at Carley.Flaxman@noaa.gov by 12:00 PM ET on May 1, 2026.

The solicitation number is REQUIREMENTS-26-1909, classified under NAICS Code 541690 (Other Scientific and Technical Consulting Services) and PSC Code S299 (Housekeeping - Conservation), with a Time-and-Materials contract type and no set-aside designation. The base performance period extends from September 15, 2026, through September 14, 2027, with two optional 12-month renewal periods that could extend the contract through September 14, 2029. The estimated total contract value, inclusive of all option periods, is $5,092,400. The contractor must provide authorized NOAA personnel complete access to the collection during specified business hours (9 am–5 pm Monday–Saturday and 11 am–5 pm Sunday, extending to 9 am–5 pm daily from Memorial Day to Labor Day) and must deliver key items including rotating and remounting of large assemblies such as the 115-ton rotating gun turret and 25-ton propulsion engines, advancing disassembly and stabilization treatments, completing component treatment, tracking desalination progress, providing quarterly progress reports, and maintaining staff credential records. Primary deliverables require quarterly progress reporting with artifact-specific status updates and work hour documentation, with invoicing submitted through the Invoicing Process Platform at www.ipp.gov upon task completion and government acceptance.