News? Admiral may be headed to Scrap

Several things on this general subject.

First, I had not heard about the ADMIRAL's impending demise. Very sad, especially considering the boat ended up as a dockside vessel through needing a big hull repair job that the owners could not afford.

On a related note about another big Streckfus boat: Capt. Bill Judd had told me at S&D last month that the PRESIDENT was being cut into pieces "as we spoke" to be moved inland somewhere in central Illinois. I am happy to report this did not occur; the big boat is still tied up at Wood River, though it does not appear there is any activity on her, positive or negative.

In another forum, Capt. Jim Davis mentioned the AMERICAN QUEEN undergoing a busy lay-up at Wood River. This is indeed so. They have a large crew on her and are working hard. The boat does not look bad at all for having been layed up as long as she has. Z-drives are off being re-worked by the crew of Mike's, Inc., and they are very professional at what they do. The AQ should come out looking and running fine next year.

I have not heard recent rumblings about the Admiral, other than it is definitely going to be purchased by Pinnacle Entertainment. Last week, the bankruptcy court and Pinnacle finally agreed on a purchase price. It would not surprise me that the Admiral would be sent to scrap, since it is no longer the cruising boat that most people remember. Years of numerous modifications and recent maintenance neglect have taken their toll.

The President is still at Wood River, as is the American Queen. There is visible work being done on the AQ. At night, she glows nicely, as if they are docked during a cruise. She should be looking good next year, especially with all the marketing talk about it being the company's flagship.

Several weeks ago there was a small article in the St. Louis Post dispatch stating that a person from Pittsburgh, Pa was attempting to form a group of investors to make an offer to the Bankruptcy Court superior to Pinnacle's offer. It was noted that the deadline had passed for offers. Nothing more on that up to including Wednesday morning ST L P D.

Previously Pinnacle in a news article stated that the Admiral would be retired after completion of the new 'up the hill' Casino Complex.

While few people have a greater attachment to the Admiral than I, reality has to surface. There is virtually NOTHING on the vessel that is from the Steamer Admiral.

If it could be made into a viable floating attraction on the St. Louis Riverfront, after gambling days; wonderful, same for the President.

It is interesting that there is little reaction for the Admiral. If I am not mistaken, she turns 100 next year (Albatross 1907). The unmistakeable deco supersturcture of that boat is a real period piece, even more so than the President. The middle has been hollowed out for a huge Casino but the Pilot house, bow and stern freight decks, etc. seem to be as is. The exterior walls of the decks with the round and oblong windows persist as well. It is possible to get a sense of what she was like when the dance floor existed and there is a picture of the popcorn stand on the lower deck where it once stood along with some nice promo pieces and pictures hung at various place around the boat. Those of you who never visited her might want to take the opportunity before she is gone. The management I talked to were very coorperative. I wonder if they would be willing to open her up for a behind the walls tour after the casino closes?

Ed

I can't say I am happy that the Admiral may soon be headed for the scrap heap. But, over the past 20 years, the boat has been declared dead over and over. I can't think of how many times the St. Louis news people have done stories on the imminent demise of the venerable old boat. However, I do feel that this may indeed be the end. The entertainment center concept has been tried twice with no success. That's where the first modifications and those ugly shore-facing add-ons came from. I hated them from the start. Then came the casino, which pretty much wiped away all history from the interior. Sure, the exterior has signs of the old boat, which was and still is quite unique. But, even here, things have changed. The pilot house was plopped on top of a rebuilt Texas deck, in front of some other sizable thing, which I always assumed was a ventilation room. The Texas also has that glassed in stern. They never would let visitors outside on deck, when it reopened as a casino. And, the first deck, formerly open-air, is also partially rebuilt and enclosed.

I would love to see a behind the scenes tour of the boat. I especially want to see what they do have in those add-ons, which were originally theaters for the shortlived entertainment center. They had Chuck E. Cheese style robotic characters singing in one of them. I'd also like to see the hull and the little that remains from the old steamboat days. Over the years, to add more space for casino junk, they literally threw away old steamboat artifacts.

The "riverboat" casino industry has changed, leaving real boats as a relic of the past. Soon, it is likely that the St. Louis harbor will be less two boats, when the Casino Queen boat (for sale if anyone is interested) is replaced by the new moat boat next year and the Admiral finally closes. This might not be until late 2007 or early 2008, depending on when the new Pinnacle mega casino makes the old Admiral unneeded.

Personally, since the Admiral has been virtually destroyed and could never be anything like before, I would wish the President to return, instead of being moved to some doomed project in the middle of Illinois. In addition, I think we are ripe for relocation of a decent river excursion boat. I'll nominate the Julia Belle Swain and the Creole Queen, since both have recent histories of struggle. Argosy has one of the "Lady" casino boats sleeping in Alton and St. Louis-based Isle of Capri Casinos has the other one somewhere, so those are possibilties. The third "Lady" is doing well in Cincinnati as an excursion boat. I rode it a few weeks ago. It needs to be de-casinoed a little more, but it is a great boat. Even better if they could fix the currently-broken sternwheel power system.

Yes, unlike the PRESIDENT, which has kept its basic form even as a casino, the ADMIRAL has been altered beyond recognition for the most part, starting with the Six Flags deal. So its easier to let the poor thing go than to see others meet the cutting torch. But it is still sad. And the ADMIRAL did not have a history up and down the river, as other steamboats did. She was built for the St. Louis harbor, and save for the winter she went to replace the PREZ while it was dieselized, she always worked in St. Louis. Correct, Capt. Jim? Popeye and Wimpy are still on display out at the St. Louis Museum of Transport though....

Again today no article in the STL P-D on the Admiral (maybe I was still a little bleary eyed early this a.m. after watching the ballgame last night). I drove down wharf street tonight for the first time in some weeks and saw the new Lewis and Clark statue just South of the Eads Bride, much closer to the River than I would have thought the braintrust would have installed it (-1.2 on the Gage Board).

That have been said I noticed that ALL the old buildings from the Verterans Bridge North along the first street west of Wharf St have been demolished and used now for temporary parking. Some really nifty old buildings (maybe some of the oldest surviving buildings in the city) are now gone: for what a Casino---any complaint from the locals? None that I have heard. A shame.

Yes, the Admiral spent her entire career in the St. Louis Harbor with the one exception of substituting for the Preseident one season.

Possibly more of a hinderance to the longevety of the Admiral as an attraction is parking and the fact that ingress and egress to the Riverfront in this age of SUVs is somewhat limited. Seems folks have to drive up to the front door, get out of their SUV and immediately make their egress when finished with their business. Walk, Public Transport you got to be kidding!

She was a GRAND boat indeed and I sincerely mourn her apparent demise in the not so distant future.

Can she be saved? Certainly she can be either "stuffed and mounted' in a floating state or put on the bank somewhere, all it takes is deep, deep pockets.

Streckfus Stuff

Fiddlin' Sue, whose grandfather, Cornelius McGee, was a Streckfus Steamers Captain, has some fine Streckfus Stuff on her website, Rivermen & Riverboats. Be sure to read about Miss Mazie Krebs, oft called "The Designer of the Admiral".

http://groups.msn.com/RivermenRiverboats/streckfussteamers.msnw

Night Pics of the Admiral - Oct. 06

These are the pics I took the night of my first post on the Admiral. These are not great, I didn't have a tripod. Enjoy.