photo by Wes Schultz
A sudden bidding war for the famed Delta Queen could ultimately take the historic paddlewheel riverboat away from Chattanooga.
Cornel Martin, who is leading a group of investors trying to purchase and refurbish the Delta Queen, said he would like to have it fixed back up and plying the nation's inland waterways again by next summer.
The former president of the Waterways Council in Washington, D.C., said his group began scurrying when it learned that a rival group in Sacramento, Calif., has made an offer for the Delta Queen. It is owned by Xanterra Parks and Resorts of Denver and was brought to Chattanooga in early 2009 by Harry Phillips as a floating hotel. It is currently operated under lease by Randy and Leah Ann Ingram, while docked at Coolidge Park.
Mr. Martin says the Sacramento group wants to keep it as a dockside hotel.
But he and other Delta Queen aficiondos want it running again, going from port to port while keeping a home base.
The Delta Queen earlier lost its exemption from Congress from certain watercraft safety rules, but Mr. Martin believes that hurdle can be overcome.
He would not reveal how much his private investors have raised to buy the Delta Queen, but he said it will cost $7 million to get it in shape to resume cruising.
That funding he said he is seeking as a loan from a city willing to be the Delta Queen headquarters. He said it would be "fairly easy" for the Delta Queen's earnings to pay off the loan within 10 years.
Mr. Martin said he is talking with officials of river towns, including Cincinnati, about the venture. He has made numerous trips in the past six months to Chattanooga to inspect the Delta Queen, and he plans to make a pitch to the new Andy Berke administration.
He said the host city would become the Delta Queen office headquarters with about 20-25 employees. The riverboat's crew of about 150 would also be hired at the host city.
A similar arrangement was worked out with Memphis to rescue the American Queen, he stated.
Mr. Martin says the Delta Queen is worth saving "because it's part of our history. It's the last authentic steamboat still able to operate. To lose its ability to travel America's inland waterways would be to lose a national treasure."