RIVIERA BEACH, Fla. — The bunker where President Kennedy would have been whisked if World War III erupted while he was in Florida may face a bigger threat than Soviet missiles posed: a battle between its operators and the Port of Palm Beach.
The once top-secret shelter, code name ‘‘Hotel,’’ and the retired Coast Guard station on Peanut Island are now a tourist attraction and the focal point of a long-running legal war between the port, which owns the island, and Palm Beach Maritime Museum, which leases the attraction.
Anthony Miller, who operates the site for the museum, said the port’s commission and Palm Beach County have blocked attempts to make the attraction financially stable.
‘‘They have been trying to kick us off for 20 years by starving us of money,’’ Miller said. The museum’s lease ($100 a year, plus 4 percent of gross sales) ends next year.
Greg Picken, the commission’s lawyer, said the port hopes to find a better caretaker when the museum’s lease expires. He said the museum’s board is in disarray, citing lawsuits members have filed against each other.