PORT ANGELES — Kalakala owner Steve Rodrigues says he hopes the City Council will vote for a resolution tonight supporting the relocation of the historic ferry to the city’s waterfront after it has been restored.
The resolution — which does not obligate the city financially — will be considered by the City Council after it begins its meeting at 6 p.m.
Rodrigues said he needs the council’s endorsement to obtain various federal grants and government-backed loans to fund the vessel’s three-year, $13 million to $15 million restoration.
Rodrigues had hoped to take the Kalakala to Everett to do the restoration work — but he told the Chamber of Commerce luncheon Monday that he is now looking at a waterfront site at Middle Point in the Sekiu area and another site at Indian Point in Port Townsend.
Rodrigues would like to turn the ferry — now rusty and dilapidated — into a combination restaurant, maritime interpretive center and a state-of-the-art conference facility that would make Port Angeles its permanent homeport.
The Kalakala carried passengers and vehicles between Port Angeles and Victoria in the 1950s.
“Our journey has just begun,” Rodrigues said in a rambling status report on the Kalakala to the chamber.
“The investment needs a sense of community. Community spirit — that’s all I’m asking for.”
