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The news that Queen Mary has a new master lease holder raises hope that the historic liner will finally receive the care and curation she so richly deserves yet has been so long denied.
Much work needs to be done in the days ahead, but here are four areas that demand the most immediate attention:
- Paint the Ship. Queen Mary looks awful. Not United States awful, but awful nevertheless. Let’s put it this way, if Queen Mary was berthed in my neighborhood she would have already been fined by the homeowners association. It’s long past time to break out the paint brushes and sprayers.
- Fix the Ship. Queen Mary is literally coming apart at the seams. Expansion joints and other critical structural parts of the ship need work—now.
- Bring Back the Class. You can’t have it both ways. Queen Mary is either a luxury hotel and historic site or a roadside attraction like the Wigwam Village Motel #6. I vote for keeping her classy. Low-grade attractions, particularly Dark Harbor, need to go. On-board retail and dining venues should also reflect Queen Mary’s rich legacy of style and elegance, as should any surrounding structures.
- Restore the Heritage. Past operators have hacked away large sections of Queen Mary to accommodate various failed attractions. Some of the lost features are literally irreplaceable, others can be either restored or recreated. I, myself, am particularly distressed that the stateroom my family occupied during their emigration to America was eradicated at some point after Queen Mary’s arrival in Long Beach.
What do you think?
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