The Catch-22 of the Kalakala
At what point does the saga of the Kalakala jump the shark? Or did it a long time ago?
Washington’s most famous (or maybe infamous?) ferry is back in the news again, this time with more continued bad news for virtually everyone involved. According to a TNT article over the weekend, the Kalakala, which we knew was already in pretty rough shape, is now the subject of an eviction lawsuit.
Karl Anderson of Tacoma’s Concrete Technology Corp, whose dock has been the ferry’s most recent host, has filed an eviction suit demanding back moorage fees, and drawing a line in the sand between Anderson and the already very much under water owner of the Kalakala, Steve Rodrigues. The problem is that the Kalakala is in no shape to be moved anywhere. Apparently it would cost anyone who want to move it $2 to $3 million, more than even the Army Corps of Engineers has squirreled away for such occasions.
Seattle P.I. coverage of the situation takes a harsh view of the situation, speculating that “Maybe someone should have put the Kalakala out of its misery a long time ago.”
While we would never go that far, it does seem that the once grand ferry is facing a tortuous and protracted end. And as one quote from Anderson in the TNT article points out, the old ferry does still have that certain something, so who knows…
“People love the Kalakala,” he said. “The media love it. They’re fascinated by it. If somebody on the Kalakala farts, they want to write about it.”
To rubberneck at the spectacle a little more read this weekend’s article from The News Tribune.
Filed under: Kalakala, Historic Preservation
9 comments
J Jesse May 8, 2012
Truly a Fonzi sceme. Ba-dum-psh!!!
F Flannimal May 8, 2012
Yes the photo is fairly epic. has anyone considered the New Carissa solution?
P Published Author RR Anderson May 8, 2012
God will save the Kalakala. One way or the other. Farts from heaven!
P Published Author RR Anderson May 8, 2012
OCCUPY KALAKALA !
T That Girl May 8, 2012
I like this passage from the TNT article:
“The environmental group Citizens for a Healthy Bay sounded an alarm, raising concerns that the Kalakala would break free and go careening up and down the Hylebos, smashing into other ships and docks, or sink and block the heavily used industrial channel, spilling fuel and toxic chemicals.”
I’m not sure how much “careening up and down” the Kalakala is in a position to do, but I’d pay good money to see that.
All kidding aside, it’s sad to hear things have come to this.
P Published Author RR Anderson May 8, 2012
The Kalakala will have her revenge on puget sound
W Weyland Duir May 8, 2012
Sadly, in truth there is nothing left to restore or save. The hull is paper-thin, where it exists and the soundness of the structure is highly questionable. Many places are unsafe to walk across – one quite literally can see through the sheet metal. It would be cheaper and easier to build a new Kalakala than to try and repair and restore the existing shadow.
E E May 9, 2012
Its copper top is worth saving. I’m not sure where you save it to, or how, but it’s actually an interesting technological relic because they used copper when the Kalakala became the first non-military ship to have radar installed. From a post-WWII industrial design standpoint, it’s pretty cool.
R Roxie May 11, 2012
I would pay good money to go onboard a
gleaming, restored Kalakala—
From a historical and nautical point of view,
will something like this ever be built again?
Like the old, turn of the 20th century theaters
that have been restored, it can be grand again
with the right investor(s) and there are plenty
of folks these days with that kind of money sitting around—
Save the Kalakala, as we’ll never see anything like it again! I admire Mr. Rodrigues for trying to do it!