A call to arms for Delta Queen supporters to derail a plan to convert the historic boat into a docked hotel turned out to be premature.
On Tuesday, Save the Delta Queen campaign leader Vicki Webster issued a "red alert" e-mail, warning supporters that a Chattanooga, Tenn., resort wanted to lease the Delta Queen, dock it and turn it into a hotel. The plan, which Webster denounces in the e-mail as "an act of pure evil," reportedly would have involved gutting the interior of the boat, which is the last traditional steamboat carrying overnight passengers and is designated a National Historic Landmark.
But Delta Queen owner Ambassador International Inc. said there have been no discussions with the business in question, River City Resort, and any lease of the boat would not permit such a drastic change to the vessel.
"The lease terms would require it to be maintained as is, with no structural changes," Joseph McCarthy, vice president of corporate development for Ambassador International, said Wednesday.
On Wednesday, Webster told The Marietta Times her earlier release was incorrect.
"I got wrong information," she said. "It came from what I thought was a reliable source."
McCarthy said Ambassador is selling off the ships of the Majestic America Line, but wants to see the Delta Queen maintained as an overnight passenger vessel. Any lease would be cancellable should a buyer be found who wants to run the Delta Queen in that capacity.
Of course, an exemption from Congress is needed before the Delta Queen will be allowed to carry passengers overnight again. That was the cause that birthed the Save the Delta Queen campaign in the first place.
Prior to 2008, the boat had received nine Congressional exemptions to the Safety of Life at Seas Act, which says boats with wooden superstructures pose a potential fire risk and cannot board passengers overnight. Supporters argue the law should not apply to the Delta Queen, which doesn't travel on the ocean and is never more than a mile from shore.
The last exemption expired at the end of October and efforts to renew it have so far been unsuccessful.
Webster said she had not spoken to Ambassador before issuing the red alert e-mail and is embarrassed by the mistake. She said finding the right person to lease the Delta Queen would be great since it would keep the boat active until an exemption can be obtained and a new buyer found.
Before the error was discovered, Webster did manage to mobilize some supporters, who planned to give Chattanooga a piece of their minds.
"They sent letters to Chattanooga saying they were going to boycott the city - which we would have done," she said.
Richard Beeland, media relations director for the city of Chattanooga, said he had not seen any boycott threats but was glad all the facts were now out. Like Marietta, Chattanooga has been a stopping point for the Delta Queen and residents there would like to see the boat again.
"It'd be a shame to see her not navigating the waterways," Beeland said.
