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The Kalakala through the years

Published: Nov. 9, 2012 at 10:35 p.m. PST — Updated: Nov. 9, 2012 at 7:25 p.m. PST
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  • The Kalakala, moored on the Hylebos Waterway, awaits it's fate after Karl Anderson acquired the ship on Friday, Nov. 9, 2012. (PHOTO BY LUI KIT WONG/Tacoma News-Tribune)
    The Kalakala, moored on the Hylebos Waterway, awaits it's fate after Karl Anderson acquired the ship on Friday, Nov. 9, 2012. (PHOTO BY LUI KIT WONG/Tacoma News-Tribune) Buy this image
  • At two Hundred Seventy Six feet of stream-lined beauty , the Kalakala ferry , built during the Great depression in Seattle and operated by the Blackball Line beginning in 1935 became an icon in the Puget Sound. (HANDOUT/Courtesy of Steve Rodrigues)
    At two Hundred Seventy Six feet of stream-lined beauty , the Kalakala ferry , built during the Great depression in Seattle and operated by the Blackball Line beginning in 1935 became an icon in the Puget Sound. (HANDOUT/Courtesy of Steve Rodrigues)
  • Kalakala owner Steve Rodrigues holds fast to his dreams of restoring the 1935 streamlined art deco ferry to it's former glory. Despite the deterioration of the Kalakala's hull and legal and financial issues, Rodrigues can still see a renovated two story 'Grand Ball Room,' for music, dancing, and dining complete with red velveteen chairs and art deco fixtures. Wednesday May 2, 2012. (DEAN J. KOEPFLER)
    Kalakala owner Steve Rodrigues holds fast to his dreams of restoring the 1935 streamlined art deco ferry to it's former glory. Despite the deterioration of the Kalakala's hull and legal and financial issues, Rodrigues can still see a renovated two story 'Grand Ball Room,' for music, dancing, and dining complete with red velveteen chairs and art deco fixtures. Wednesday May 2, 2012. (DEAN J. KOEPFLER)
  • Kalakala owner Steve Rodrigues scrambles on the hull on a partially sunken boat to access a makeshift gangplank to the ferry tied up on the Hylebos Waterway at the Port of Tacoma Wednesday May 2, 2012. (DEAN J. KOEPFLER)
    Kalakala owner Steve Rodrigues scrambles on the hull on a partially sunken boat to access a makeshift gangplank to the ferry tied up on the Hylebos Waterway at the Port of Tacoma Wednesday May 2, 2012. (DEAN J. KOEPFLER)
  • Crowds in Bremerton pack the promenade and the flying bridge of the Kalakala. (HANDOUT/Courtesy of Steve Rodrigues)
    Crowds in Bremerton pack the promenade and the flying bridge of the Kalakala. (HANDOUT/Courtesy of Steve Rodrigues)
  • A postcard showing the Kalakala on one of its popular 'Moonlight cruises,' from Seattle is rich in nostalgia. (HANDOUT/Washington State Historical Society)
    A postcard showing the Kalakala on one of its popular 'Moonlight cruises,' from Seattle is rich in nostalgia. (HANDOUT/Washington State Historical Society)
  • Her Majesty Queen Mary, on a trip from Seattle to Victoria B.C. in 1939, enjoys the view from the Kalakala's flying bridge. (HANDOUT/George Bayless Collection)
    Her Majesty Queen Mary, on a trip from Seattle to Victoria B.C. in 1939, enjoys the view from the Kalakala's flying bridge. (HANDOUT/George Bayless Collection)
  • The passenger deck of the Kalakala, striped of the art deco seating and fixtures, is embued with the weathered patina of its' nomadic salt water life. (DEAN J. KOEPFLER)
    The passenger deck of the Kalakala, striped of the art deco seating and fixtures, is embued with the weathered patina of its' nomadic salt water life. (DEAN J. KOEPFLER)
  • The passenger deck of the Kalakala, striped of the art deco seating and fixtures, is embued with the weathered patina of its' nomadic salt water life. (DEAN J. KOEPFLER)
    The passenger deck of the Kalakala, striped of the art deco seating and fixtures, is embued with the weathered patina of its' nomadic salt water life. (DEAN J. KOEPFLER)
  • The passenger deck art deco seating of the Kalakala. (HANDOUT/George Bayless Collection)
    The passenger deck art deco seating of the Kalakala. (HANDOUT/George Bayless Collection)
  • Standing on the roof of the 'Palm Room,' Steve Rodrigues said 'As the lady Kalakala's captain I will never give up the effort to restore her and find her a home. (DEAN J. KOEPFLER)
    Standing on the roof of the 'Palm Room,' Steve Rodrigues said 'As the lady Kalakala's captain I will never give up the effort to restore her and find her a home. (DEAN J. KOEPFLER)
  • The Palm Room on the Kalkala. (ASAHEL CURTIS/Washington State Historical Society)
    The Palm Room on the Kalkala. (ASAHEL CURTIS/Washington State Historical Society)
  • The Kalakala and the historic Coleman dock in Seattle in the mid 1930's. (HANDOUT)
    The Kalakala and the historic Coleman dock in Seattle in the mid 1930's. (HANDOUT)
  • Workers stream off the Kalakala in Bremerton. (HANDOUT/Museum of History and Industry)
    Workers stream off the Kalakala in Bremerton. (HANDOUT/Museum of History and Industry)
  • The Kalakala is greeted by a flotilla of small boats in Kodiak Alaska in 1968 where it was retrofitted as a crab processing vessel and later grounded and partially buried for use as a fish cannery. (HANDOUT)
    The Kalakala is greeted by a flotilla of small boats in Kodiak Alaska in 1968 where it was retrofitted as a crab processing vessel and later grounded and partially buried for use as a fish cannery. (HANDOUT)
  • Excavators unearth the Kalakala from it's Kodiak Island location where it was used as a fish cannery. (HANDOUT)
    Excavators unearth the Kalakala from it's Kodiak Island location where it was used as a fish cannery. (HANDOUT)
  • The Kalakala on it's journey home from Alaska to Seattle in 1998. (HANDOUT)
    The Kalakala on it's journey home from Alaska to Seattle in 1998. (HANDOUT)
  • Concerns that a deteriorating Kalakala might capsize and sink in the Hylebos Waterway has Port of Tacoma officials, business owners, and environmental groups worried. A Foss Tug boat towing a barge loaded with scrap cars to Schnitzer Steel squeezed though a tight space as it passeed the Kalakala Tuesday May 1, 2012. (DEAN J. KOEPFLER)
    Concerns that a deteriorating Kalakala might capsize and sink in the Hylebos Waterway has Port of Tacoma officials, business owners, and environmental groups worried. A Foss Tug boat towing a barge loaded with scrap cars to Schnitzer Steel squeezed though a tight space as it passeed the Kalakala Tuesday May 1, 2012. (DEAN J. KOEPFLER)
  • Corroding from the inside and out the hull of the Kalakala needs to be constantly pumped out to keep it afloat and would likely need total replacement in the future. Before any dreams of rebirth for the iconic ferry can be carried forward a tangle of legal issues must be solved and environmental safe-guards put in place and many feel time is running out. (DEAN J. KOEPFLER)
    Corroding from the inside and out the hull of the Kalakala needs to be constantly pumped out to keep it afloat and would likely need total replacement in the future. Before any dreams of rebirth for the iconic ferry can be carried forward a tangle of legal issues must be solved and environmental safe-guards put in place and many feel time is running out. (DEAN J. KOEPFLER)
  • A rusting steel superstructure and hull , peeling paint , much of it containing lead, and a sense of abandonment plague Kalakala owner Steve Rodrigues. Rodrigues says that he has seven bids for the Kalakala's renovation ranging from $17 to $21 million dollars. While Rodrigues says it would only cost $50,000 to do structural repairs to make the Kalakala safe to tow to another location in the Puget Sound other estimates put the cost at between $2 million and $3 million dollars. Wednesday May 2, 2012. (DEAN J. KOEPFLER)
    A rusting steel superstructure and hull , peeling paint , much of it containing lead, and a sense of abandonment plague Kalakala owner Steve Rodrigues. Rodrigues says that he has seven bids for the Kalakala's renovation ranging from $17 to $21 million dollars. While Rodrigues says it would only cost $50,000 to do structural repairs to make the Kalakala safe to tow to another location in the Puget Sound other estimates put the cost at between $2 million and $3 million dollars. Wednesday May 2, 2012. (DEAN J. KOEPFLER)
  • Facing a eviction law suit from Concrete Technology's Karl Anderson Kalakala owner Steve Rodrigues and his ferry face an uncertain future. (DEAN J. KOEPFLER)
    Facing a eviction law suit from Concrete Technology's Karl Anderson Kalakala owner Steve Rodrigues and his ferry face an uncertain future. (DEAN J. KOEPFLER)

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