Restored Kalakala will go on display next summer on Seattle waterfront

The once-futuristic ferry Kalakala will go on display on Seattle's Elliott Bay waterfront in the summer of 2003 after its exterior is restored at a local dry dock, the Kalakala Foundation announced yesterday.

Once the streamlined Depression-era vessel is moved from the dry dock to its waterfront display, the interior will be renovated. And beginning in the summer of 2004 -- 69 years after its maiden voyage between Seattle and Bremerton as a Puget Sound Navigation Co. vessel -- visitors will be able to walk aboard the Kalakala.

Besides announcing a new schedule, the foundation also named a new, high-profile executive director -- local architect and preservationist Art Skolnik.

Inside the rusted superstructure, where remnants of old paint continue to peel from the walls and ceiling, Skolnik pledged before a small crowd, "Believe me, there is going to be a lot of success -- and not rust."

He said the foundation needs $2 million to help leverage financing in order to complete the $7 million restoration as well as pay added administrative expenses.

The vessel will serve as a museum of the art-deco era, according to the foundation, with room on the forward car deck for art shows, performances and conferences. Skolnik said the boat would have no power.

Someday, Skolnik said, the public will "know what it was like to be a pedestrian (passenger)" on the boat in its heyday. A horseshoe-shaped lunch counter, showers for Bremerton shipyard workers and commodious women's restrooms were features, along with dance cruises.

City Councilman Peter Steinbrueck, a Kalakala restoration supporter, said at yesterday's event that the vessel "belongs rightfully on Seattle's waterfront," and noted how its sleek looks and well-appointed interior "uplifted the spirits of the city" during the Great Depression. It is now tied up at the north end of Lake Union.

The vessel served on Puget Sound until 1967, when it was sold to seafood-processing company and later abandoned. It was rescued from a mud flat in Kodiak, Alaska, by Fremont sculptor Peter Bevis four years ago. Bevis founded and heads the Kalakala Foundation, devoted to saving the icon that came to symbolize the city before the Space Needle was built in 1962.

Skolnik, a 58-year-old architect, urban planner and former King County official, was involved in preservation efforts at Pioneer Square during the 1970s and before that at Pike Place Market. In 1987, he led an effort to save the Temple De Hirsch synagogue from the wrecking ball. Also, he has volunteered his time on the Kalakala project.

The foundation's vice president, David Ruble, said Skolnik was hired for two reasons.

"One of the most important things is to secure a home port on (Seattle's) central waterfront," he said. "We were looking for a person that has a good solid working relationship with the players and someone very well-respected in those circles."

Secondly, the foundation needed someone who could raise money. "He (Skolnik) has served on the board for the Cornish School of Fine Arts for 17 years, has served on several political campaigns and knows how to raise money," Ruble added. "It was a natural fit."

The project is expected to cost $10.5 million.

P-I reporter George Foster can be reached at 206-448-8341 or georgefoster@seattlepi.com

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