"If you have to sell the Spirit to save the Belle, sell it."
That's the gist of nearly 100 suggestions that have come in so far after the agency asked citizens for recommendations about the future of the Belle of Louisville and Spirit of Jefferson riverboats, Waterfront Development Corp. president David Karem said.
"The strong majority of the communications from the public is that the Belle is the treasure and must be preserved," said Karem, whose agency manages the boats for Louisville metro government.
Karem said the agency, which is still accepting public comments, also has hired consultant Linda Harris-Melson to analyze the boats' operations, finances, staffing and marketing and to make recommendations for their future.
Harris-Melson, who will work with Greater Louisville Inc., the metro chamber of commerce, to draft a business plan for the boats, is being paid $4,750 a month through July 1.
She has 25 years of experience in the hospitality business, including nine years as general manager of the private Jefferson Club and four years as general manager of Standard Country Club.
The diesel-powered Spirit recently completed a Coast Guard inspection and is available for spring bookings and charters, Karem said -- even as officials work to find a way to better distribute its weight.
The Spirit's weight is out of kilter, causing it to tilt a bit in the water, Karem said. A marine architect, Dejong & Lebet of Jacksonville, Fla., is being hired to recommend a solution and determine the cost, Karem said.
One possibility is extending the Spirit's deck, said Kevin Mullen, captain of the Belle and Spirit.
On Jan. 31, metro government and Hornblower Marine Services of Jeffersonville, Ind., ended a 3-year-old deal under which Hornblower had managed the Belle and Spirit.
Hornblower wanted to renegotiate a clause requiring it to pay half of any annual operating loss, but Metro Mayor Jerry Abramson's administration declined to do so and asked the waterfront agency to take over the management.
Abramson spokesman Chad Carlton said the city has billed Hornblower for $210,000 for half of the boats' operating loss in 2003 and expects to send another bill soon for an additional $240,000 for half of the 2004 loss, after the books for last year are audited.
John Waggoner, Hornblower's chief executive officer, said this week only that "we'd like to work it out" with the city.
Karem said the waterfront agency expects to offer Abramson a business strategy for the boats this spring. In the meantime, he said, the agency continues to welcome public comments on the boats.
Suggestions so far have included using the Belle for dinner theater cruises; theme food cruises; taking day runs or perhaps docking overnight at places such as West Point, Ky., or Madison, Ind.; and having on-board re-enactors tell river history."