Seattle Icon To Be Scrapped

"f86sabre" (f86sabre) 01/07/2015 at 09:22 • Filed to: Shiplopnik, ferry, wahsington, Kalakala, Seattle

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If you have spent any time around the Seattle area then there is a good chance that you have taken the opportunity to ride one of the iconic ferries. They are part of the fabric of the community and a necessity for travel between the many islands and the Olympic peninsula. They are really a great way to travel. Sad news came out this week that one of the most unique of those ferries will be heading to the scrap yard after years of attempts to fund a restoration.

The Kalakala entered service in 1935 and served until 1965. This ship's unique streamlined design made it an icon for the region while in service. While the ship had some design issues that may have dampened the love of those who operated it, it was certainly a stunning vessel to look at.

Listing while at dock (Image The Columbian)

Unfortunately, after it left service it's life got difficult. It spent some time in Alaska, beached and utilized as a fish cannery. During this time many of the ship's fixtures were stripped. After decades of hard use and some neglect a campaign was launched to bring the ship home to the Seattle area and to restore her to her former glory. As these types of things tend to happen, the ship changed hands, funds were lacking and finally the owner disappeared. The Coast Guard declared her a hazard to navigation after she started to list.

Up close with the ship (Image !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! )

Karl Anderson, who now owns the ferry after the previous owner disappeared, has even suggested donating the ship's metal to Kia in hopes that they would make a limited edition vehicle in its honor. The metal would end up in Asia for recycling anyway. As mentioned in a piece by !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! in Seattle, he offered to ship the metal to them and license the ship's name with the only requirement being that Kia donate one vehicle to the LeMay-America's Car Museum in Tacoma.

I can't say I fault Mr. Anderson's logic on this point. He has done what he could to protect an icon, but what do you do when it is too far gone? Preserve it in some little way, even if it is part of an SUV. The sad fact is that we as a country have a hard time finding homes for Navy Battleships and aircraft carriers, so a ferry doesn't stand much of a chance. At least with Anderson's idea it would live on in some little way.

A modern Washington State Ferry (Image Wikipedia)

505Turbeaux > f86sabre 01/07/2015 at 09:30

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that is a gorgeous design right there. I hate to see it go but it is probably time

ttyymmnn > f86sabre 01/07/2015 at 10:15

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Karl Anderson, who now owns the ferry after the precious owner disappeared,

Previous?

Nice write up. It would make a pretty awesome floating restaurant or hotel, but the amount of money required to fix it would undoubtedly be prohibitive. Sadly, it will likely end its days as a can of diet Pepsi.

DasWauto > ttyymmnn 01/07/2015 at 10:26

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Fixed.

XJDano > f86sabre 01/07/2015 at 10:27

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A similar SS in Saint Louis, MO got scrapped a few years ago.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Admira…

f86sabre > DasWauto 01/07/2015 at 10:57

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Grassyass!

f86sabre > ttyymmnn 01/07/2015 at 11:02

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There is another ferry in Seattle, the Mv Skansonia, that can be rented for weddings and such. It was one of the three finalists for our reception location. Pretty cool ship with lots of historic fittings. I forget why we didn't use them, I think it was because we got a good deal at Salty's, but they did allow you to BYOB, which is a huge bonus when trying to control event costs.

http://www.skansonia.com/

wabbalosthiskey > f86sabre 01/07/2015 at 11:44

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I'm all for preserving some history, but you can't keep everything or all we'll end up with is rusting junk everywhere, and that's what the Kalakala is. Let's keep a car from 1935 instead, it's much smaller.

wabbalosthiskey > f86sabre 01/07/2015 at 12:04

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So I just found a link to the Komo story where they actually posted some ridiculous photoshop as the proposed design - How did this make news, it's so nuts, some kid is laughing somewhere.

TwinCharged - Is Now UK Opponaut > f86sabre 01/07/2015 at 12:17

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Jesus Christ, that's some gorgeous ship. Maybe he should donate some of that metal to the guy who designed and built the Decoliner.

ranwhenparked > f86sabre 01/07/2015 at 16:15

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This is very sad. I visited the ship about 16 years ago when it was newly arrived back in Seattle - everyone was still really excited to have her back in town - vendors were selling souvenir postcards and T-shirts all over the place. It was clear that there really wasn't the money and organization in place to really get the project off the ground, but you could tell that a lot of people wanted it to work.

With the Admiral already scrapped and the Kalakala next, Art Deco vessels are really an endangered species.

They should have just left her on the beach in Alaska until someone came along that really had the money in place to do something with her.

If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > f86sabre 01/07/2015 at 17:24

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I live on Martha's Vineyard, and a few years ago we went through a similar ferry-related heartbreak. After over half a century of continuous service, the MV Islander was retired in 2007, where it was sold to the Governors Island Preservation and Education Corporation in New York to serve on the Governors Island route. However, after purchasing the ferry the GIPEC did an extensive survey of the boat and found that the costs to bring it back up to code were a prohibitive $7 million, much more than anticipated.

Thus, the ferry was listed on eBay, where it was sold to a farmer/trucker from upstate NY for a mere $24,000. He originally planned to scrap it for profit but there was controversy when the state would not release the ferry from the harbor where it was moored. His plans eventually fell through and after languishing in port for a few years the Islander was sold to a scrapyard in New Jersey. As of last April all that remained of the storied ferry was the hull, freight deck, and part of the central support structure.

It really was a sad ending for a boat that spent 57 years serving as a lifeline to the island, she really was quite ingrained into our culture. Even now, seven years later, you can still find all sorts of souvenirs and postcards that bear her image.

This is the boat that replaced her: