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“Unconditional Surrender” Loan is Extended

Friday, 24 February 2012
Contact: John Gilmore (619) 686-6222, (619) 686-7206

The sailor and nurse featured in the “Unconditional Surrender” sculpture will remain locked in embrace on the waterfront for a while longer.

Port of San Diego staff and the Santa Monica-based Sculpture Foundation, which owns the 25-foot popular attraction, have agreed to extend the loan of the sculpture to the Port through mid May.

“Unconditional Surrender,” which was created by Seward Johnson, was first loaned to the Port District in 2007 for one year. The loan has since been extended a number of times and was due to expire this month.

Local and international visitors have stood beneath the towering sculpture and recreated the famous kiss that occurred in New York City's Times Square during a celebration of the end of World War II. The sculpture is a depiction of the popular photograph that was taken of the couple.

Some of the sculpture's most ardent supporters attended the February 14 meeting of the Board of Port Commissioners to urge another extension for the loaned sculpture.

The Port of San Diego was created by the state legislature in 1962. Since then, it has invested $1.7 billion in public improvements in its five member cities – Chula Vista, Coronado, Imperial Beach, National City, and San Diego. It is the fourth-largest of 11 deep water ports in California and the top port in the state for the movement of breakbulk cargo.

The Port District oversees two maritime cargo terminals, two cruise ship terminals, 17 public parks, the Harbor Police Department, and the leases of more than 600 tenant and sub tenant businesses around San Diego Bay.