I don't know if this is the proper forum (in not, I apologize) but I hate to see this beauty go away.Here is the story:
L.A.'s Queen Mary in troubled waters
Tourism icon's operator in bankruptcy; move possible?
By Russ Britt, MarketWatch
Last Update: 9:44 AM ET Apr 27, 2006
LONG BEACH, Calif. (MarketWatch) -- She has been floating peacefully in a Los Angeles-area harbor for nearly four decades now, but the septuagenarian Queen Mary -- a tourism icon -- faces some rough waters in the months ahead.
What amounts to a landlord-tenant dispute between the ship's managers and the suburban city of Long Beach has landed the operators in bankruptcy, the resolution of which could be in doubt for some time.
The turbulence even has prompted whispers of a new owner coming in and whisking the grand old ship back to her birthplace in England, though that remains a remote possibility in most views. For one, it's doubtful that Long Beach would let the ship go.
"It's been a symbol of the city for a long time," said Joseph Prevratil, who has overseen the attraction's operations since 1993.
From her maiden voyage in 1936, the Queen Mary was the flagship of the storied Cunard fleet of ocean liners. She served as a troop carrier in World War II and after decades of transatlantic cruising, became the anchor attraction in a Long Beach tourist facility that draws about a million visitors a year.
Troubles began around 2000 for the Queen Mary, Long Beach and the two companies that operate the facility, the nonprofit RMS Foundation and Queens Seaport Development Inc., or QSDI.
Prevratil is currently the RMS president and was head of QSDI until a bankruptcy trustee took over the company earlier this month. In 2000, Prevratil was under the impression the company was entitled to rent credits for making improvements to the property around the ship.
As an incentive, Long Beach considered offering discounts off the rental of the facilities to QSDI if it would develop the area around the ship.
But the city says it never formally approved those rent credits -- and doubts whatever meager improvements the companies made would qualify to receive them. QSDI claims the city did grant those credits.
Default
Though it was able to pay its monthly bills, QSDI went into bankruptcy after the city declared the company was in default on $5 million in back rent. QSDI declared bankruptcy last year and was taken over by a trustee in early April. QSDI has $24.5 million in debt owed to one creditor, BarKay Investments.
The two sides also are feuding over the lack of progress in developing the area around the ship. Prevratil said that the city has rejected several possible developers he has brought forth to build up the parcel of land.
"The city said they would not deal with them," Prevratil said.
Long Beach officials say the operators have yet to bring forth a viable suitor. Only one plan was initiated, but it later was withdrawn by Prevratil, said Charles Parkin, a deputy city attorney.
"I don't believe it had anything to do with the city," Parkin said of the withdrawal. "I know of no one else that Mr. Prevratil has brought forward to the city."
Compounding the situation was a severe downturn for the tourism industry that followed the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. While other nearby tourism venues such as Disneyland have recovered, the Queen Mary has yet to return to its pre-9/11 income levels. As a result, it hasn't been able to promote the Queen Mary or take out significant blocks of advertising, Prevratil says.
Prevratil says revenue stands roughly at $34 million a year. It was $40 million or more prior to 9/11.
"Had we not had to pay $1 million in attorney's fees, it would have been easier to operate," Prevratil said.
The Queen Mary still captures interest as a wedding location, as well as a Sunday brunch spot in its elegant main hall. Its hotel is a novelty for those seeking an overnight getaway, and there are attractions that fire the imagination of some visitors, including legends of ghosts on board the ship that is the subject of one popular tour.
But interest in the ship has waned because operators were unable to spruce up and reinvent the attraction to keep visitors coming, said Jack Kyser, chief economist for the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp., a local business promotional group.
"They constantly have to have something new or people will say, 'I've been there'," Kyser said. "They need to find somebody that has deep pockets and very strategic thinking about the whole thing."
Monument to glory days
The Queen Mary's initial attraction was as a monument to the glory days of 20th Century transatlantic passages. As host to luminaries from around the world, it was the largest ship of its day.
Stretching more than 1,000 feet, Queen Mary exceeded the length of White Star Line's ill-fated Titanic by more than 100 feet. Its gross tonnage was nearly double that of Titanic.
The Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth I were built in the 1930s and 1940s to replace Cunard's fleet of aging ships. Before it was through, the Queen Mary had 1,001 transatlantic crossings.
After 31 years at sea, the Queen Mary was about to be mothballed in 1967 when Long Beach bought it for $3.45 million. Rapidly growing at the time, the city had designs on creating a tourist attraction that would make the world notice the suburb, now the second-largest municipality in Los Angeles County.
Long Beach officials brought the massive ship over from England, and housed it at a pier in its giant harbor -- the U.S.'s second largest. That is where Queen Mary has remained, floating in a giant saltwater bathtub. It's surrounded by a breakwater fortress that keeps the ship perfectly still.
Today, the Queen Mary seems more a replica than vessel, housing museums and various shops. There also are hotel, bar and restaurant facilities, much of which remains in the art-deco style prominent in the ship's heyday. But much of the Queen Mary's inner workings, including its engines, have been gutted.
Anxious for development
The city long has wanted to develop the 40 acres adjacent to the Queen Mary, and hoped that an operator would come in and find a developer to move that along.
Hoping to generate more interest as a tourism attraction, the city in 1983 built the world's largest geodesic dome next to the ship to house Howard Hughes' famous Spruce Goose airplane, featured at the end of the 2004 film, "The Aviator."
But the plane captured limited interest and brought modest drawing power for the Queen Mary. It was purchased by an aviation museum and moved to Oregon in 1992.
The Walt Disney Co. (DISWalt Disney Company
CCL ) eventually found a use for the dome, and now uses it as a passenger terminal.
A number of plans have been developed for the Queen Mary and surrounding property. Inside the new, makeshift offices of Howard Ehrenberg, several tentative renderings are scattered throughout.
Appointed earlier this month as bankruptcy trustee, Ehrenberg, an attorney in a downtown Los Angeles firm, now oversees QSDI operations.
Various renderings center on another hotel, shops and attractions such as theaters inside portions of the giant Spruce Goose dome not being used by Carnival Cruises.
The plans seem far-fetched, particularly since Ehrenberg had been on the job barely more than a week but already saw signs the ship was slipping into disrepair. Many of the ship's long, teak decks were getting discolored and fading, for example.
"It's like the Golden Gate Bridge. You have to keep painting it," Ehrenberg said.
Tough to move
That high-maintenance aspect of the Queen Mary could also be what prevents it from relocating.
Roger Hardingham, a British businessman and filmmaker, has said he wants to buy the ship and return it to its place of origin, England's port of Southampton. Hardingham could not be reached for comment.
But that's a long shot. In addition to the fact it has no engines, the ship is too big to fit through the Panama Canal. That means it must make a more rigorous trip around Cape Horn if it is to head back to England.
Second, Southampton would have to ready itself to accommodate the ship. The port may not have the room, nor the inclination to make the necessary repairs to upgrade the ship.
Further, it appears Long Beach wants to hang on to it, though officials say a sale is remotely possible. The city is about a decade into its 66-year lease with QSDI, which may be up for grabs once bankruptcy proceedings conclude.
If no developer can step forward and developing the valuable harbor-front property, the city and port could be left with no choice but to sell the ship. And one thing standing in the way of a new seaport development is that a new environmental impact report will be needed -- often a lengthy, arduous process for any California entity.
But a formidable chain of events would have to be set in place for the Queen Mary to flee Long Beach, several sources say.
"I have to answer there is a possibility but the likelihood is in the single digits," said Parkin, the deputy city attorney.
Russ Britt is the Los Angeles bureau chief for MarketWatch.
[ 04-27-2006: Message edited by: joe at travelpage ]