Comments on: KALAKALA: Shame on us for failing historic ferry

By: alindasue

alindasue — Fri, 11 May 2012 15:16:14 +0000

On further reading, I’m finding that’s pretty much what they did with Top of the Ocean. I suppose it’s an alternative if they can’t salvage Kalakala. I’m wondering though if the ship can’t be dry-docked and converted to a waterside restaurant rather than an in-the-water restaurant.

By: SwordofPerseus

SwordofPerseus — Thu, 10 May 2012 23:56:41 +0000

I’ll wager $5.00 that it would be much cheaper to simply build a replica at the waterside. Perhaps snatch some genuine artifact from the hulk and place it in the structure to say that it is an extension of the Kalakala. Everything you do on a vessel costs 5 times more, first of all if it were still a floating vessel it would have to meet Coast Guard standards. Not impractical for a restaurant

By: SwordofPerseus

SwordofPerseus — Thu, 10 May 2012 23:40:46 +0000

-X

One of many things 19th century Parisians and I agree on. It is an iconic symbol of Paris, however it is quite and ugly iron “antennae” and not aesthetically pleasing to the eye.

By: alindasue

alindasue — Thu, 10 May 2012 13:21:45 +0000

I know the KalaKala is no longer sea worthy, but I’d love to see it fixed up into something like the old Top of the Ocean restaurant. That would be a great way to highlight its Art Deco features and history.

By: xring

xring — Thu, 10 May 2012 04:15:28 +0000

SOP – on the other hand – the 1889 Parisians thought the Eiffel Tower was an ugly monstrosity.

By: RLangdon

RLangdon — Thu, 10 May 2012 00:16:50 +0000

You can’t save every bit of junk that ever was by calling it “historical.”

We have pictures of it. What more do we need to know that it once existed?

By: SwordofPerseus

SwordofPerseus — Wed, 09 May 2012 22:45:49 +0000

Ummm,

I hate to burst your bubble Jeff, but your version of history is somewhat lacking in historical facts.

First the “Kalakala” started out being built in 1926 by The Key System as the Peralta and served the east San Francisco bay cities from San Leandro to Richmond, CA. In 1933 the vessel superstructure was destroyed by arson as she lay at her berth in Oakland. The hull was still intact and on 12 October 1933 the vessel was sold to the Puget Sound Navigation Company (PSNC), also known by its marketing name, the “Black Ball Line”. The vessel was renamed in 1934, and served as a passenger ferry on Puget Sound for the next 33 years. The art deco superstructure was added in Puget Sound and gave the vessel its distinctive shape. Sadly marine vessels require more than constant maintenance and without it they slowly slip below the waves and are gone. You will be remembered Kalakala…
Some inglorious nick names for the vessel were Silver Slug, Silver Beetle, Galloping Ghost of the Pacific Coast, and, among Seattle’s Scandinavian community, Kackerlacka, which means “cockroach”