Topic starter
03/03/2010 1:56 pm
According to news reports, Delta Demolition crews are to begin salvaging the sunken BECKY THATCHER today. A crane barge is to lift pieces of the boat out of the river and over the wall onto the property of Frontier Steel. It will be determined if the steel hull can be salvaged to become a barge -- or will need to be cut up and sold for scrap.
For more details click on Beaver County Times:Salvage company prepared to pull riverboat out of Ohio Then click on LOCAL at the top and scroll down to find the article and photo.
Bye Bye Becky! You were a grand old gal and we'll miss you!
08/03/2010 10:08 pm
It really began today, March 8...
Demolition Begins On Becky Thatcher Riverboat In Ohio River - kdka.com
Here's the grim news... from historic KDKA about an historic boat....
today there is an article covering what is said in the video, plus the video report showing the beginning of the demolition. I don't know if that video will stay on past today or not... but it shows them placing the neon sign up on the dock, and the clawed bucket bringing up smashed parts of the Texas...also an aerial shot of the operation.
09/03/2010 1:34 am
Watching this careless demolition is sickening. The cavilier spokesperson condeming the vessel to death...just sickening. Once again, our history disappears and no one seems to care. Besides, who wanted the sign...how about the Pilothouse? The wheel? Sickening!
Topic starter
09/03/2010 12:49 pm
D-Day hath arrived and soon the demolished BECKY will literally be "resting in pieces". Very sad, but there's also some comfort in knowing the old girl will be out of her misery once and for all.
Click on Crews begin demolishing historic ship on Ohio River for a nauseating image of the Texas Deck being torn apart and scooped up.
As usual, some of the "facts" in the article are erroneous. Three presidents, including Teddy Roosevelt, did NOT ride on the Str. MISSISSIPPI III -- it was the first vessel of the name -- and it was two presidents, Roosevelt and Taft. And the boat was NOT built in 1899. Her superstructure is from the second MISSISSIPPI, formerly the Str. LEOTA, whose superstructure was rebuilt in 1922. At the least, the BECKY deserves an obituary with correct information!
Farewell Old Friend!
09/03/2010 1:55 pm
This all is so sad. Another one gone forever. Keith, maybe you could give an eulogy when we next gather at the Howard for her. It would only be fitting.
Topic starter
09/03/2010 7:42 pm
Thanks Jo Ann! Goodness knows that with all the photographs, slides, blueprints, and other memorabilia pertaining to the MISSISSIPPI / BECKY THATCHER lurking in my filing cabinets, it could all be worked into an upcoming program at the museum -- or for a future gathering of the Hot Stove Navigation League of America.
09/03/2010 7:50 pm
Judy Patsch;20652 wrote: Demolition Begins On Becky Thatcher Riverboat In Ohio River - kdka.com
Here's the grim news... from historic KDKA about an historic boat....
today there is an article covering what is said in the video, plus the video report showing the beginning of the demolition. I don't know if that video will stay on past today or not... but it shows them placing the neon sign up on the dock, and the clawed bucket bringing up smashed parts of the Texas...also an aerial shot of the operation.
Sadly, the clawed bucket is evidence of how little of historical value remained. True it would have been nice if someone who knew how to care for these ships had purchased her. If her last hull overlay was in 1985 and she got one coat of coal tar epoxy, this was an accident waiting to happen.
If he had really cared about (or wanted to preserve) her, she was tied up at the Marinways site owned by River Salvage and could have been hauled out for inspection in October when she arrived (but, of course, it would have cost him money).
Though I don't know the current owner, I suspect that the designation on the National Register limited what anyone not wanting to spend a few bucks could do with her. I spoke with a couple of friends in the restaurant business here in Pittsburgh and none of them wanted to touch her.
The telling thing was that, according to published reports, the "extensive rennovations" performed were on the superstructure. Anyone who knew what they were doing would have focused on the hull, first.
09/03/2010 9:03 pm
Howard River Ramblings
Yes, these next two years of the RR series at the Howard are now set: Capt. Carl Henry this August and Curator Keith next summer with the BECKY THATCHER presentation. See how easy that was to find the next speaker, Keith? With all your BECKY materials, you could publish a book, or at least a special commemorative magazine, about her.
09/03/2010 9:07 pm
and the 'extensive renovations' were probably embellished for the insurance claim. No way was she ready to be opened as a restaurant in Pittsburgh. Those chairs shown salvaged in the video aren't 100 years old, maybe 15, either.
10/03/2010 2:10 pm
As noted by another poster, there have been a lot of embellishments to the story (e.g., the presidents who were actually guest of the Mississippi I). I'm even doubtful of the claim that Levin was near to signing a lease given how many hoops you must go through to open a restaurant in Allegheny County.
The press seems to be making the owner the victim.
10/03/2010 2:25 pm
Yep, got the date set yet? Seems my calendar fills up fast. And it's one we certainly wouldn't want to miss, has as been all of them. I'm already looking forward it.