posted 03-31-2000 06:50 PM                    

 The world-famous SS United States, once the vessel of choice for the rich and the royal, now a rusting hulk on Philadelphia's waterfront, may have a future other than the scrap heap.
A spokesman for the ship's owner, New Jersey businessman Edward A. Cantor, says there are two "very, very viable offers" on the table for the legendary vessel, and a deal could come within a month.
Asking price: $35 million.
One potential buyer, a Las Vegas businessman, would convert the venerable craft into a "destination resort."
What the other one would do is anybody's guess because Cantor's spokesman Robert Fair refused to identify him.
Another possibility broached by a New York developer would send the ship to New York City as a "floatel." But he has not made an offer to buy yet.
Meanwhile, a private foundation is hard at work trying to convince government officials to chip in and turn the United States into a floating museum that would remain here.
The ship, an architecturally graceful technological marvel of the post-World War II era and the world's fastest ocean liner, could become Philadelphia's "Eiffel Tower," the head of the group declared.
Where the "destination resort" would wind up is unknown at this point.
Fair hinted that the ship may not stay in Philadelphia after it is sold. That, he said, "depends very much on the attitude of Philadelphia."
Another tantalizing possibility is that the multi-million-dollar refurbishment of the ship that would be required might be done at the local shipyard, meaning jobs.
Equally tantalizing is the rumor that Bill Gates, head of the Microsoft Corp. and the world's richest man, might be interested in buying it and converting it into a floating "Microsoft University."
Then there is always the scrap heap.
Preservationists have campaigned to save the ship since it was threatend at auction in 1992 with purchase by scrappers who have turned such famous vessels as the Ile de France and the Mauretania into tuna-fish cans.
The 990-foot United States, a fabulous floating hotel which was designed to be turned into a troop ship in time of war, was put out of business by airline travel in 1969.
Cantor's spokesman confirmed that one of the potential buyers is a Las Vegas corporation, Heritage Marine, headed by merchandising specialist Colin E. Seeger.
Seeger said the purchase is imminent.
He said his investment group plans to buy the storied ship, which numbered among its passengers Elizabeth Taylor and the Duke of Windsor, "very soon" and turn it into a destination resort moored at an undisclosed location.
He said he established Heritage Marine several years ago for the specific purpose of buying and refitting the United States.
An electronic search of various business Internet sites turned up no information on Heritage Marine, other than it was a corporation licensed in Nevada. Seeger wouldn't disclose who his partners are in the venture.
Seeger said there is "the possibility" the United States could remain in Philadelphia.
He said he was looking into having it overhauled at the old Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, at a cost that might reach $400 million.
He said the money would come from private sources but said public cooperation was necessary in moving the project along.
He said he plans to talk to Mayor Street soon.
Street's spokesperson, Barbara Grant, said the mayor "obviously is interested in any economic development project that's going to either bring jobs or fill out our economic development picture.
"He really has to evaluate the merits of this particular project before taking a position on it."
The notion of a "floatel," to be anchored in New York City, is a dream of New York businessman David Platner.
He said his company, Original Ventures, has been working for two years to interest public officials there in providing leasing rights to Pier 76, near the Javits Center, for a 1,000-room "floatel" with convention space.
He said only a major city like New York or San Francisco can provide hotel room rates justifying the costs of acquistion and development of the ship.
The ship is worth only $3 million as scrap, Platner said.
But it has a "panache, a patina, a vibe - it's got a name" that makes him willing to pay "close to" Cantor's asking price.
He hasn't made an offer yet. His partner, Michael Kramer, said they hoped to get "conditional designation" to moor the United States at a Hudson River pier "over the period of the next year."
The overhaul work would be done in New York, Platner said.
Critics may be granted a certain amount of skepticism about any proposal for the United States because the ship has been reported close to sale before and nothing materialized.
Cantor originally brought it here in 1996 from Turkey trying to put together a package of public and private grants and loans to refit it at the old Philadelphia Naval Shipyard.
But Fair maintained a sale was imminent.
"We think we're probably down to three or four weeks," he said recently.
The SS United States Foundation, a private group, has been trying to get government help to convert the ship into a local tourist attraction.
Both U.S. Sen Arlen Specter and U.S. Rep. Bob Brady expressed interest in the proposal.
But Brady said restoration would be better engineered with private funds.
Neither lawmaker had seen any specific dollars-and cents proposal from the foundation.
"I would like to look at the details," Brady said. "It's an historical ship."
But he questioned both the cost and the proximity to the battleship New Jersey, which the Navy recently decided to moor permanently at Camden as a museum.
"One's a war ship and one's a luxury liner. But you already have a ship so I think it's got to be competiton," Brady said.
Robert Westover, foundation chairman who envisioned the ship as the city's "Eiffel Tower," said the group has been in contact with the congressional delegation.
Westover got the current drive rolling via the Internet after the ship came to Philadelphia.
His organization now has about 700 members, from schoolchidlren to bankers, working to get the government to save the ship.
Westover said he also had tried to contact former Mayor Ed Rendell, but "we were just told the mayor's busy. We haven't had a chance to approach the new mayor."
The foundation wants the city to provide a free berth for the museum ship.
The foundation got the ship added to the Register of Historic Places and now is working, with little help from Cantor, its chairman complained, to have it declared a National Landmark, like the Statue of Liberty.
Westover said a feasibility study has been done. It estimates the cost at about $3 million to simply spruce up the ship so its decks and engine room could be used as a museum.
Westover said overtures had been made to the owner, but rejected, to introduce legislation in Congress granting him $33 million in tax credits if he would donate the ship to be preserved as a museum.
Fair said no such offer ever came "across my desk," but added that, "$33 million in tax credit is not $33 million."
The Bill Gates rumor was started by a West Coast newspaper columnist, who recently suggested that Gates buy the ship and turn her into a floating "Microsoft University."
Rumors were fanned when Gates recently purchased a major interest in the Newport News, Va., shipyard where the United States was built in 1952.
A spokeswoman for Microsoft would have no comment, even on the suggestion.
Joseph Grimes, of Seaport Financial in Cherry Hill, who helped bring the ship here in July 1996, wasn't laughing at the "Microsft U" suggestion.
"The pursuit of a particular corporation, of the magnitude of Microsoft, is something that has been discussed before," Grimes said.
Although Fair wouldn't disclose who the other potential buyer was, he did say it was not Bill Gates.
Grimes was unaware of the two new offers for the ship but added, "We get inquiries probably on the average of one to two a week from investment groups around the country exploring different opportunities, as a floating hotel, operating cruise ship, or a floating hotel casino."
Fair said Cantor has spent millions on the ship, including a staff of watchmen, tugs and towing, insurance, and about $1,000 a day in docking fees.
An official of Horizon Stevedoring, which leases pier 82 from the state and re-leases the dock to Cantor, refused to comment.
William McLaughlin of the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority, said despite the ship's deteriorating conditon, "There's no reason why it can't stay there, however unsightly it may appear. We have no legal recourse to say, 'Take it away.

posted 04-10-2000 12:34 PM                   

Please, just put her to sleep. It's cruel to her and to those who love her to just sit around, waiting on the whims of dreamers. At least with the scrapyard, there would be closure, and jobs for some out-of-work Philadelphians...

posted 04-10-2000 11:44 PM                   

[This message has been edited by Rex (edited 04-10-2000).]

posted 04-11-2000 12:51 PM                   

I would LOVE to see her set sail again. That's why I was asking if anyone knew about the ITALIA PRIMA ex-STOCKHOLM. She is a few years older than the UNITED STATES, and was about the same age the Big U is now when she underwent her conversion. That's why I admired your design so much. That is EXACTLY the way she should look should she be saved. I think a similar type of conversion would work even better on the Big U. I just wish someone would do something NOW, and see it through. And yes, I DO get impatient, but I love her as much as anyone else at this BB. Thanks.

posted 04-13-2000 03:13 PM                    

Malcolm, what do you think?

posted 04-20-2000 07:13 PM                    

Brandon

posted 04-21-2000 08:57 AM                   

at this point, I don't think anyone is going to do anything with the Big U except let her sit were she is and rot, Brandon....

posted 04-21-2000 06:12 PM                    

Thanks for listening,
kbozman.
where