Fate of the J.B. Ford?

[MilwBob]

Asbestos is not an issue in a museum ship as long as the rules are followed and it is encapsulated properly. Almost all the museum ship out there now have asbestos to a certain degree.

True. The 'City of Milwaukee' had the asbestos in the engine room encapsulated, so it is open for tours. The boiler room is off-limits as asbestos is still present- kinda hard to encapsulate a boiler!

[MilwBob]

Steve, the best chance for a museum ship is near or at a large city, like Milwaukee or Chicago, except that Chicago really does not seem interested in anything that has to do with the Lakes. Not sure if Kenosha or Racine, Wisconsin would be interested, but I could check if you wished. Kenosha would put you halfway between Chicago and Milwaukee, which would help you possible draw population. Kenosha does have a pretty good Tall Ship weekend every year, so they might be interested.

Neither Milwaukee nor Chicago is all that interested in museum ships. Chicago could have had a place for the Acacia, but so much politics got involved it made it impossible to work anything out, hence the move to Manistee. Milwaukee could have had the 'City of Milwaukee', but the plan at the time (late 80s-early 90s) was to gut the ship to use for the Port of Milwaukee offices. Also could have had the 'Milwaukee Clipper' for $1.00 but the mayor at the time said it cost too much. And a few years ago when a group wanted to put the 'Des Moines' on the lakefront such a hullaballoo went up you'd think someone was tryiong to dock a 1000ft x 1000ft monolith that would block the morning sun.

[sh71382]

No offense taken, I do apologize if I came across that way, I am really glad to see many people still interested in her, and her fate. You did bring up a point that many of the artifacts are gone and I did forget to touch on that point in my response, Thank you for bringing that aspect up.

As far as the EM Ford since it has been sold already and is sitting at the scrapyard, its out of reach especially being sold canadian. The only thing that I would do with the EM Ford is take items off of it to help bring the JB back up to display status. I would have loved to have seen her saved being older, but we weighed the options and found that the EM though built almost a decade earlier, also was the least original. All of her cabins had been rebuilt, all of her deck houses replaced, most all of her interiors had been completely redone. Through the century of her operation and accidents along the way including the unfortunate sinking in the 70s she also had alot of steel replaced, thus leaving us with not much original turn of the century steamship left. Though alot of her is newer, it has in its own right become historic. But we wanted something that was turn of the century, and in the sad ending for the EM Ford she can help the JB Ford through the recovery of some of her equipment and fittings to replace the missing ones on the JB in the event that we manage to save her.

Having spoken to a few individuals who were instrumental to saving some of the already established museum vessels I found that alot of them started out with ships just like the JB Ford, missing alot of items that over the decades found their way home and back on display. I am hoping for something similar to happen if the preservation effort meets with success. Thank you so much for your wishes of good luck, she will need it. I hope to gain as much support as I can in the coming months as things pick up and more things are accomplished and that in the end we can save her. -Steve

[Timerover51]

Steve, the best chance for a museum ship is near or at a large city, like Milwaukee or Chicago, except that Chicago really does not seem interested in anything that has to do with the Lakes. Not sure if Kenosha or Racine, Wisconsin would be interested, but I could check if you wished. Kenosha would put you halfway between Chicago and Milwaukee, which would help you possible draw population. Kenosha does have a pretty good Tall Ship weekend every year, so they might be interested.

[Pete in Holland MI]

Steve -

Sorry if I offended you. Yes, the major pieces are there, but the "collectables" have been removed, as I was informed. I haven't been on the boat myself.

I am glad you are working on preserving the old girl. As I understand though, the EM Ford was pretty much intact, and might be a better representative to persue.

Good luck, though, in your adventure. Restoring a ship as a museum is a big undertaking.

Pete

[Steve Haverty]

A phone call to the tender in November said she has not been used for storage for several years. Her stint down in Chicago saw many artifacts get stripped from the boat. He has also been removing re-useable machinery for other vessels while up in Superior. She has lost her value as a museum ship and is only waiting for steel prices to recover to make it saleable for scrap.

Her value as a museum ship is in no way gone, she is in fact the most in danger peice of maritime history on the lakes right now. Everything that makes her historic is still firmly in place onboard the vessel. She is still holding all of her original propulsion machinery, all of her steam auxillaries, and all of her living quarters. She also retains nearly all of her century old wood paneling, her post WWI pilot house and enclosed bridge, many pieces of old historic equipment. All that has been removed is modern re-usable items of use to the other cement vessels in the fleet. None of her ancient steam machinery is of any use anywhere but inside her hull. No one uses it anymore, no one needs parts from it. It is a one of a kind unique peice of pre WWI history, everything about her screams history and, she isnt done yet. I am working to get something going with her, its just a slow process and hopefully can be done before her fate is sealed.

[Timerover51]

Asbestos is not an issue in a museum ship as long as the rules are followed and it is encapsulated properly. Almost all the museum ship out there now have asbestos to a certain degree.

Bramble and Acacia have had all asbestos removed during their Coast Guard refits, as does the Sundew.

[Guest]

Same for museum buildings. If it's not friable and it's encapsulated, use as a museum site is permitted. Lead paint rules are also relaxed for historic buildings used as museums versus buildings used for residential purposes.

[Brent]

Asbestos is not an issue in a museum ship as long as the rules are followed and it is encapsulated properly. Almost all the museum ship out there now have asbestos to a certain degree.

[Timerover51]

Asbestos also makes it very hard to operate as a museum ship.

[Pete in Holland MI]

A phone call to the tender in November said she has not been used for storage for several years. Her stint down in Chicago saw many artifacts get stripped from the boat. He has also been removing re-useable machinery for other vessels while up in Superior. She has lost her value as a museum ship and is only waiting for steel prices to recover to make it saleable for scrap.

As with most old ships, the cost of asbestos removal often outweighs the cost of the scrap iron.

Too bad.

[Guest]

What will be the fate of the J.B. Ford? Does she have another few years left as storage and maybe a new chance at life maybe as a museum ship or something like that? Or will she go to the scrap yard?