The Belle of Louisville's paddlewheel in the foreground, the Spirit of Jefferson headed upriver yesterday to undergo an inspection. (BY PAT MCDONOGH, THE COURIER-JOURNAL)
Waterfront officials who will start managing the Belle of Louisville next Tuesday say at least $300,000 should be spent for heating and air-conditioning systems to increase the historic steamboat's use.
And if major money is required to repair its diesel-powered sister, the smaller Spirit of Jefferson, they might consider recommending that Louisville metro government sell the Spirit, said David Karem, president of the Waterfront Development Corp.
The Spirit sailed to JeffBoat in Southern Indiana yesterday for a required five-year Coast Guard inspection, and waterfront officials say they don't know the extent of repairs that will be necessary.
The waterfront agency is assuming management of the two boats and their wharf boat, the Andrew Broaddus, from Hornblower Marine Services of Jeffersonville, Ind.
The agency expects to recommend to Metro Mayor Jerry Abramson what to do with the vessels in 60 to 90 days, Karem said.
Karem said all avenues should be explored to keep the Belle permanently afloat, even if it doesn't operate in the black.
"It is a treasure, part of the community's image," he said.
Adding heating and air conditioning would make the Belle, which dates to 1914, more attractive for public cruises and charters year-round, increasing its income potential, Karem said.
"It would be a good investment" and should be done soon, he said.
The Belle's wide recognition as a valuable marketing icon is a positive value that could be entered on its books every year to help offset any operating loss, he added.
Greater Louisville Inc., the metro chamber of commerce, has agreed to help draft a business plan for the boats, Karem said.
He said he believes that it is possible to obtain more federal grants and foundation money for the vessels, and a long-term solution might be to raise an endowment and use the interest to help subsidize them.
Karem said the riverboats' 17 full-time staff members and crew probably will become agency employees paid by metro government. He said Kevin Mullen will remain captain of the Belle and Spirit.
Karem said he probably will urge Abramson to hire a business manager for the boats, with that person and Mullen being made assistant directors of the waterfront agency.
Hornblower had managed the Belle and Spirit since spring 2002 under a contract that initially was signed with Jefferson County.
In December, Hornblower wrote to Abramson that it would not renew the contract for another year unless the clause requiring the company to pay half of the boats' operating loss was renegotiated.
Abramson said he wouldn't have renewed the contract anyway and couldn't renegotiate the 50-50 clause without readvertising the contract.
John Waggoner, Hornblower's chief executive officer, said he is bitter about the contract ending.
"We worked very hard and did a great job," he said.
Newly elected Metro Council President Barbara Shanklin, D-2nd District, said yesterday that she supports what Abramson has done. She called the Belle "a piece of our history, a landmark."
Shanklin's predecessor, Councilman Kelly Downard, R-16th and minority caucus chairman, said he agrees the Belle is important to the city.
Downard added, however, that he is concerned about the "firing" of Hornblower and questions whether waterfront officials have the expertise to run the Belle.
Mullen said he's confident the Spirit of Jefferson won't require an expensive overhaul.
But he said the Coast Guard inspection is "like going to the dentist. It's all subject to guesses until you get the boat up out of the water."
If the repairs carry a cost of several hundred thousand dollars, Karem said, "we would have to put that in the mix of where she (the Spirit) sits in the food chain.
"Our No. 1 goal would be to protect the Belle and the Broaddus. The Spirit comes in third."
Karem said he couldn't rule out recommending that the Spirit be sold and that the money be used to help preserve the Belle and the Broaddus, a one-time Coast Guard lifeboat station that dates to the late 1920s.
The Spirit dates to the mid-1960s."