[URBAN NOTE] "Could Captain John's still live on?"

[rfmcdonald]

The Toronto Star's Susan Pigg reports on the various plans to refurbish Captain John's floating restaurant. Most, it seems, aren't well-thought-out at all.

As she sits tied up at a Port Colborne scrapping yard, Captain John’s floating restaurant is yet again drawing a crowd.

A Boston-Miami investor group has offered about $100,000 to save the former Toronto tourist attraction from being cut up into recyclable pieces. And they aren’t alone.

One person has even inquired over what it would take to get the 90-metre ship, the Jadran, a new engine and put it back in business — a $10 million to $15 million proposition.

“I’ve probably talked four or five people out of being interested, just to do them a favour, really,” says veteran ship scrapper Wayne Elliott, who oversaw the towing of the ship from Toronto’s waterfront last month after years of legal battles over its fate.

“We’ve heard from a number of people and with some, it seems to be just emotion and not really well thought-out. Many don’t even have a final plan or a final destination for the ship.”