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Thursday, October 9, 2003
Kalakala sold to Tumwater man
A Tumwater man is the new owner of Puget Sound's deteriorated vintage ferry, the Kalakala, and he says he can begin restoration work on the vessel within two months.
Thursday morning a Seattle bankruptcy judge approved the sale of the streamlined but rusting, 1930's-era ferry to developer Steve Rodrigues, 52. He said he plans to restore the vessel into a waterfront attraction, complete with restaurants, a museum and meeting space. Eventually, he said, he plans to restore its old engines so it can call on waterfront communities.
"It belongs on Puget Sound," he told bankruptcy Judge Samuel J. Steiner, who approved the sale.
The 276-foot boat, built in Kirkland on the hull of a burned-out Bay Area ferry, operated as a ferry between Seattle and Bremerton and Port Angeles and Victoria for more than 30 years until 1967. It was then converted into a fish-processing plant and spent another 30-plus years on the Alaska waterfront before being retrieved and returned to Seattle.
A local foundation attempted a restoration but had fund-raising difficulties and eventually declared bankruptcy. The boat was sold at a Sept. 12 auction, where Rodrigues submitted the third-highest bid.
Two higher bidders were disqualified because they didn't come up with enough cash to pay their offers.
Rodrigues, a former construction engineer, has said he can move the old ferry from its current moorage to a drydock and get it ready for restoration in about 60 days. He told Steiner he has made arrangements to tow the Kalakala to a drydock once he receives Coast Guard approval. He did not say how long the restoration might take.
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