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ENLARGE
MY TURN
David C. Henley
Publisher Emeritus
It's an idea that's almost impossible to believe.
Is a Saudi Arabian zillionaire prince really serious when he says he would like to buy the famous passenger liner Queen Mary that has been a Southern California tourist landmark since 1967, disassemble it and then put it back together in Las Vegas where it would become a casino-hotel resort and shopping center complex?
I learned of the prince's plan for the old steamship last weekend while visiting the 73 year-old liner with my family at its port in Long Beach, where it has been a permanent fixture for 42 years.
Currently operated as a hotel, restaurant and museum, the Queen Mary has become shabby and worn, its attendance is declining and it has become a money-loser for its owner , the city of Long Beach. Would-be saviors such as the prince have come forward the past few years to keep the ship afloat and turn it into a financially profitable venture.
Another potential rescuer of the 1,019 foot-long Queen Mary is a Las Vegas entertainment company called the Cairngorm Group. It is floating (pardon the pun) plans to purchase the ship, tow it to a San Francisco shipyard, renovate it, install new engines (the original engines were removed when it arrived in Long Beach in 1967) and turn the vessel into a world-class, ocean-going cruise liner.
The Cairngorm Group says the project would cost between $950 million and $1.5 billion and take up to four years to complete, I was told by Paul Eakins, who covers nautical and economic affairs for the Long Beach Press-Telegram.
Other proposals for the Queen Mary have popped up over the years, according to Eakins, and here are several of them:
Selling the ship to the Disney Company which would turn it and the adjacent waterfront property into a theme park and resort called “DisneySea.”
Building a massive “Statue of Humanity” next to the Queen Mary which would be a sister status of the Statue of Liberty.
Building a NFL stadium next to the ship that would house a professional football team to serve the Los Angeles area.
Turning the ship into an Indian-owned tribal casino. (For this to happen, the ship would have to be designated a branch reservation of an existing California Indian tribe.)
The old Queen isn't the only antique luxury liner that has met hard times because of the increasing popularity of jet travel and the construction of new and glitzy cruise ships.
Her sister ship, the Queen Elizabeth, taken out of passenger service in the late 1960s because of falling revenues, was turned into a floating college called “Seawide University.” Alas, school bells on the water-borne campus rang for the last time in 1972 when the ship caught fire and sank in Hong Kong harbor.
The SS United States, which went into service in 1952, was laid up in the late 1980s and today is known as the “forlorn ghost ship of Philadelphia” as it rusts away at a pier in that city, its future unknown.
The Queen Eliizabeth II, built in 1967, is also out of service today and berthed in Dubai, awaiting word on whether it will be modernized and sail again, be turned into a dockside hotel, or scrapped.
Another famous liner, the SS Independence which made its initial voyage in 1951, was laid up in the 1980s and today is in India, awaiting the wrecker's torch.
If none of these proposals for the Queen Mary comes to fruition, I have a great idea. Take the ship apart and reassemble it at Lake Lahontan. The Churchill County Commission surely could find a way to find more water for the lake and, presto, the Queen Mary would be “at sea” west of Fallon and serving as a gigantic floating casino and luxury resort. My plan might sound far-fetched to nay-sayers and pessimists, but all things are possible if you persevere.
David C. Henley is publisher emeritus.
Is a Saudi Arabian zillionaire prince really serious when he says he would like to buy the famous passenger liner Queen Mary that has been a Southern California tourist landmark since 1967, disassemble it and then put it back together in Las Vegas where it would become a casino-hotel resort and shopping center complex?
I learned of the prince's plan for the old steamship last weekend while visiting the 73 year-old liner with my family at its port in Long Beach, where it has been a permanent fixture for 42 years.
Currently operated as a hotel, restaurant and museum, the Queen Mary has become shabby and worn, its attendance is declining and it has become a money-loser for its owner , the city of Long Beach. Would-be saviors such as the prince have come forward the past few years to keep the ship afloat and turn it into a financially profitable venture.
Another potential rescuer of the 1,019 foot-long Queen Mary is a Las Vegas entertainment company called the Cairngorm Group. It is floating (pardon the pun) plans to purchase the ship, tow it to a San Francisco shipyard, renovate it, install new engines (the original engines were removed when it arrived in Long Beach in 1967) and turn the vessel into a world-class, ocean-going cruise liner.
The Cairngorm Group says the project would cost between $950 million and $1.5 billion and take up to four years to complete, I was told by Paul Eakins, who covers nautical and economic affairs for the Long Beach Press-Telegram.
Other proposals for the Queen Mary have popped up over the years, according to Eakins, and here are several of them:
Selling the ship to the Disney Company which would turn it and the adjacent waterfront property into a theme park and resort called “DisneySea.”
Building a massive “Statue of Humanity” next to the Queen Mary which would be a sister status of the Statue of Liberty.
Building a NFL stadium next to the ship that would house a professional football team to serve the Los Angeles area.
Turning the ship into an Indian-owned tribal casino. (For this to happen, the ship would have to be designated a branch reservation of an existing California Indian tribe.)
The old Queen isn't the only antique luxury liner that has met hard times because of the increasing popularity of jet travel and the construction of new and glitzy cruise ships.
Her sister ship, the Queen Elizabeth, taken out of passenger service in the late 1960s because of falling revenues, was turned into a floating college called “Seawide University.” Alas, school bells on the water-borne campus rang for the last time in 1972 when the ship caught fire and sank in Hong Kong harbor.
The SS United States, which went into service in 1952, was laid up in the late 1980s and today is known as the “forlorn ghost ship of Philadelphia” as it rusts away at a pier in that city, its future unknown.
The Queen Eliizabeth II, built in 1967, is also out of service today and berthed in Dubai, awaiting word on whether it will be modernized and sail again, be turned into a dockside hotel, or scrapped.
Another famous liner, the SS Independence which made its initial voyage in 1951, was laid up in the 1980s and today is in India, awaiting the wrecker's torch.
If none of these proposals for the Queen Mary comes to fruition, I have a great idea. Take the ship apart and reassemble it at Lake Lahontan. The Churchill County Commission surely could find a way to find more water for the lake and, presto, the Queen Mary would be “at sea” west of Fallon and serving as a gigantic floating casino and luxury resort. My plan might sound far-fetched to nay-sayers and pessimists, but all things are possible if you persevere.
David C. Henley is publisher emeritus.
