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| The Delta Queen was docked at Coolidge Park in Chattanooga until 2015. (Photo contributed to Times Free Press) |
The historic Delta Queen riverboat will once again ply the waters near Chattanooga after a voice vote from the U.S. House of Representatives reauthorizing its operation. The Delta Queen is expected to begin passenger trips up the Mississippi, Arkansas and Ohio rivers again in 2020 after $10 million to $12 million in renovations.
Christened in 1927, the riverboat was docked in Chattanooga as a stationary bar in and hotel in 2008 after a federal exemption expired that had allowed the paddlewheel boat to travel the rivers. But the boat stopped taking passengers after damage from a 2014 ice storm, Mike Pare reports for the Times Free Press. In 2015 a group of preservationists and business people formed the Delta Queen Steamboat Company and purchased it, hoping to repair it and have the exemption renewed. The boat is currently docked in Houma, Louisiana.
Chattanooga city leaders are lauding the vote, saying that the Delta Queen will help attract well-heeled tourists to the city. And Shaw Sprague, senior director of government relations for the National Trust for Historic Preservation, said the boat is historically significant and "connects citizens to our proud maritime past," Pare reports.
The National Trust designated the Delta Queen as a National Treasure recently. It is also on the National Register of Historic Places and is a National Historic Landmark. It's more than just a well-preserved paddleboat, too: The U.S. Navy used it as barracks during World War II, according to NOLA.com.
from The Rural Blog https://ift.tt/2KO8mbf Historic riverboat to ply the Mississippi River once again - Entrepreneur Generations
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