Disappeared News: Maui has a barge to spare, any ideas?

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Maui has a barge to spare, any ideas?

by Larry Geller

I’ve suggested that the Superferry could remain in Honolulu Harbor as a floating restaurant, even featuring free parking on the lower deck.

The idea hasn’t caught on with the company’s management, I’m afraid. So the ferry may sail off into a possibly military future. The stuff they serve on it to the military will fall far short of my idea.

Meanwhile, over on Maui, they’re stuck with this Chinese-made barge that presumably will hang around without any planned use whatsoever. Whether the Superferry company will pay for it or not is still up in the air. In any case, it’s there to stay.

So what to do with a battered but still usable Chinese barge?

Tom Stevens, writer of the Maui News column Shave Ice, has some ideas in his column which will appear Wednesday.

A snippet (he was listening to some loud music):

Entertainment came to mind first, perhaps because Journey had just torn off another amazing crescendo, replete with machine-gun drumming and buzz saw guitars that tore the air like 100 Harleys. The tumult reminded me that barges everywhere double as live music venues. Didn't The Young Rascals get their start on a barge in The Hamptons? Maybe our barge could become a nightspot. Wiliwili Harbor on Kauai has Club Jetty. Why can't we have Club Barge?
I know, the name needs work. How about Kahului Barge and Grill? Or The Burger Barge? Maybe we could even set up lights and nets and call it a Sports Barge. Play some volleyball, have a beer and a burger. If we could get a transient vacation rental permit, we could let out rooms and call it the Barge Inn, or more cutely, the Dew Barge Inn.

Click the link for the rest of Tom’s suggestions.