(Lead photo: Tacoma News Tribune/Dean J. Koepfler) After decades of limbo, many a grand plan that failed and numerous wistful glances into the past, the ferry Kalakala is no more, having been scrapped at a graving dock in Tacoma, Washington last month. The ferry, which had been an attraction for the Puget Sound region long before the Space Needle came into existence, was built on the frame of the former MV Peralta, a ferry built in 1926 that had been damaged by arson in 1933. Kalakala was finished in 1935 and became a Seattle icon, traversing the waters with an Art Deco look that stunned. But by 1967 the ferry was sold off, and after being a cannery ship, a beached shrimp processing ship and upon return to the Puget Sound in 1998, an eyesore for the local communities. After being docked in Seattle and Neah Bay, Kalakala was moored in the Hylebos Waterway where she sat until January 22nd, when she was towed to the Concrete Technology Corp. graving yard. Scrapping was completed in the beginning of Feburary. Parts of Kalakala will be saved for individuals that expressed interest in acquiring relics of the ferry, but for the most part this is the end.
Like crabs eating a fish carcass. Very sad. Side note; amazing that all those excavators can work in such close proximity without running into each other.
If your amazed by those excavators you should see the construction going on at Boeing right now. There are 14 or more cranes erecting a new million square foot builing in Everett right now.
It was certainly an art deco, art piece. I agree, very sad that something couldn’t have been done with it. I could see it restored and used as day/night cruise type of deal. You drive on board and drive off at a destination (ala like a ferry) kinda like the Love Boat, but with cars……
The ship saw over sixty years of useful service. Most ships average 30 years. It had a good run but it was time for it to go.
Yes, I agree with that also, I totally understand. The expense for my fantasy would be enormous and who would foot the bill? Those days have passed too, where such a thing as I mentioned, would be entertaining in today’s world…….
I can’t tell from the video, did it have an aluminum outer skin over wood or was it all wood?
Stainless steel, as I understand it.
long story, shortened, I was on board the Kalakala late last year – it was in really, really tough shape – to the point that it’d be cheaper to do a recreation rather than a rebuild. The hull was not sound. That left the owners little option. Even if they had rebuilt it, it likely would have been remove the super structure and put it on a barge… non-powered barge. So the question was, what to do? even if it was “rebuilt” it wouldn’t be the Kalakala. While it would be cool to do a restaurant inside, it was a working boat and nothing inside made it easy to convert – especially the porthole windows. The lack of funding was merely the last nail in the coffin.
As for parts off the ship, they were sold at a sale last weekend – anything you buy now is coming from a dealer who bought at that sale. Of course, you could also buy parts of the ship at Walmart this Christmas… granted, they’ll look nothing like it…