Queen Mary Should Stay Put, City Council Told

Saying that the Queen Mary is too important an icon to let go, Long Beach City Manager James C. Hankla on Friday strongly recommended that the City Council refuse to sell the ship or send it temporarily to Tokyo.

With several members of the nine-member City Council already cool to the idea of letting the ship go, Hankla’s report could be the death blow to a proposal by the operator of the Queen Mary and promoters in Japan to finance repairs for the famed 1930s-era ship by sending it to Tokyo Bay for three to five years.

Promoters in Japan believe it would be a phenomenal tourist attraction, capable of generating tourist dollars in high multiples of what would be possible in Long Beach.

Councilman Douglas Drummond, conceding his is probably the minority view on the council, said Friday after reviewing Hankla’s report that it is a mistake to reject the opportunity to send the ship to Japan.

Drummond said that, in essence, Hankla’s proposal means that the city would be responsible for coming up with $30 million to $40 million in repairs. The city has sunk at least $80 million into the Queen Mary since it purchased the vessel in 1967, Drummond said.

“The Queen Mary’s maintenance is such a big-ticket item that it is going to be a never-ending problem for the city,” Drummond said. “The ship, when it was launched in 1936, was never intended to have a life beyond 30 years. We spent some $80 million to fix her up and make her presentable 30 years ago. Now it is 30 years after that, and we have to overhaul her again.”

Queen Mary operator Joseph Prevratil said Japanese investors had pledged up to $40 million in repairs.

Hankla, whose recommendations on big-money items are often followed by the council, questioned Prevratil’s ability to come up with “start-up capital” to make the venture work. Hankla also said there was “considerable risk to safely towing the ship to Japan and back.”

Prevratil was not available for comment Friday.

Linda Howell DiMario, president of the Long Beach Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, said in a statement attached to Hankla’s report that the Queen Mary “holds as clear an image in people’s minds as a identifier of Long Beach as does the Statue of Liberty in New York, the arch in St. Louis, the Eiffel Tower in Paris and the Space Needle in Seattle.”

If the Queen Mary is allowed to leave, Howell said, “a shadow will be cast over everything good and exciting happening in this city, including [construction of] the Aquarium of the Pacific and the Queensway Bay project.”

Hankla’s report will be taken up by the City Council on Tuesday.