New ideas floated for Queen Mary

Wow! new engines, digging it out of its protected mini seawall, a crew.. thats lofty goals for a relic. How about maintain it and not steal the money from it? How about more historic stuff.. or better that area.. something...

Juan Pardell

Judged:

Just a few issues surrounding Fountain Valley based, The Queen's Project:

1. They are seeking donations, yet the business is not a registered 501 c 3 non-profit organization.(www.guidestar.org )
2. The company, has not filed paperwork with the State of California Secretary of State's Office, requesting permission to operate as a corporation. This being the case, it would be illegal for them to solicit donations of any kind, which is what they are currently doing on their website.
3. Given there is no information on this organization, how much money do they actually have to undertake a monumental task of restoring the Queen Mary?

metoo

Judged:

A Smithsonian West would be a good project for the ship to turn into, with some restaurants., something for the whole family

Juan Pardell

Juan Pardell wrote:

Just a few issues surrounding Fountain Valley based, The Queen's Project:
1. They are seeking donations, yet the business is not a registered 501 c 3 non-profit organization.(www.guidestar.org )
2. The company, has not filed paperwork with the State of California Secretary of State's Office, requesting permission to operate as a corporation. This being the case, it would be illegal for them to solicit donations of any kind, which is what they are currently doing on their website.
3. Given there is no information on this organization, how much money do they actually have to undertake a monumental task of restoring the Queen Mary?

One more tidbit. According to the Nevada Secretary of State's Office, the parent company, Caringorm Entertainment Group, has four officers whom all have the same name. That is rather suspicious.

https://esos.state.nv.us/SOSServices/Anonymou...

Juan Pardell

Judged:

metoo wrote:

A Smithsonian West would be a good project for the ship to turn into, with some restaurants., something for the whole family

Good idea. However, a Smithsonian West might be too sophisticated a concept for a city like Long Beach.

maggie

Judged:

I always thought the Queen Mary would make a great casino. The whole hard-to-get-to area where the ship is located should be designated "Casino Pointe"-- nothing too brassy,eh? The city and nearby businesses could sure use the cash infusion. Who knows? If it's a hit, we could do away with our polluting port.Now, that's change I could almost believe in!

Juan Pardell

BTW, according to the Nevada Sec. of State's office, the listed Nevada address for Cairngorm Entertainment Group belongs to a company called Authentic Autographs Unlimited. It would be nice, if someone would thoroughly check into the legitimacy of this particular group seeking to purchase the Queen Mary.

joecairo

Irvine, CA

Judged:

the casino idea might work, but not in Long Beach. The Queen should go to Catalina.

Robert J G Jackson Sr

The City would have to be crazy to sell the ship for starters. It is now an iconic symbol of Long Beach. It's image is on every single area newscast every single night on TV. Los Angeles is not generally thought of as a beach City, but Long Beach is, largely due to all the images of the Queen which are to be found around the world.Restoration of the ship is being done, and was certainly needed. But full restoration to an operating ship? It's possible, of course, but would never be financially viable. There is no way that the ship could compete on any level with modern cruise ships. Due to the investment needed, along with the operating costs, the fares would be unimaginable. Sorry. Just take good care of her, and keep her here.

Juan Pardell

Robert J G Jackson Sr wrote:

The City would have to be crazy to sell the ship for starters. It is now an iconic symbol of Long Beach. It's image is on every single area newscast every single night on TV. Los Angeles is not generally thought of as a beach City, but Long Beach is, largely due to all the images of the Queen which are to be found around the world.Restoration of the ship is being done, and was certainly needed. But full restoration to an operating ship? It's possible, of course, but would never be financially viable. There is no way that the ship could compete on any level with modern cruise ships. Due to the investment needed, along with the operating costs, the fares would be unimaginable. Sorry. Just take good care of her, and keep her here.

Do you actually believe this company is serious about restoring the Queen Mary?

CHS

Fullerton, CA

We had our 30-year high school reunion at the Queen Mary last summer. It was a great setting for our event. However, I have lived in LB (or the immediate area) since 1967, and I've been to the Queen less than 10 times.

Dave in Alamitos Beach

Judged:

I also think that it should be a casino. It's isolated enough to "protect" those people who don't like gambling, but it's destination enough, and different enough, to get people to go there for the gambling experience.

I've always thought it should be like a ship experience without actually going anywhere, i.e. too much champagne, too much gambling, too much flirting, etc.

LBJJ

Bremerton, WA

Judged:

After the recent decommissions of the Q.E.II and Windjammer ships due to operating costs and code upgrades, refloating the Queen Mary would make as much sense as relaunching the Saturn V.

The answer: convert the ship to both a casino and prison!

Patrons can wager on convict's surviving a miniature, below-deck version of "Death Race" involving motorized bar stools and whiffle bats...

Or float felons on innertubes in the harbor while wagering patrons lob small explosive charges...

Fun for all!

mr sides the third

is talking out of his ass. this will never work. does anybody know anyone with a billion dollars to spare?

give me a break.

storkman

La Mirada, CA

Judged:

gut it and tow to Casino Point off Catalina, then skuttle it and make a kick-ass diving site. the Channel Islands are already known as one of the best dive areas in the world. this would make it #1 and would get the "money pit" out of L.B.'S backyard for good.

oh ya, SINK THE BREAKWATER!!!

Juan Pardell

Oakley, CA

Judged:

Dave in Alamitos Beach wrote:

I also think that it should be a casino. It's isolated enough to "protect" those people who don't like gambling, but it's destination enough, and different enough, to get people to go there for the gambling experience.
I've always thought it should be like a ship experience without actually going anywhere, i.e. too much champagne, too much gambling, too much flirting, etc.

I agree. Those who are concerned about the element a casino attracts, are myopic in their thinking. It all depends on the product. If you open the Queen Mary as a casino, with a business plan similar to the Hollywood Park Casino in Inglewood, you will obviously attract the wrong element. Now, if you package a Queen Mary casino, and develop something similar to the Bellagio Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, the customer base will be more desirable. Given the ship's history, its highly plausible.

Compton

Downtown LB could be a better area if they actually help control the pollution there is from the ports and bring more interesting stuff to downtown LB. Like LB has the potential of becoming a tourist destination. The water pollution is something big that is affecting LB growth. I for sure would like to see the Queen Mary become a casino or something like that. If I had the money I would invest on making that part of LB a better place or making Catalina Island a tourist place like Cabo San Lucas.

Michael McMillan

Dallas, TX

Mr. Sides, in his mid-20s, says he will buy the Queen Mary so he can have it "taken apart deck by deck until there is nothing more than just her outer hull." Gee -- thanks but no thanks, Robert!

http://thequeensproject.org/project.htm

Paypal "Donate" buttons on every page do not go toward restoring the ship:

"Your donation goes toward The Queen's Project day-to-day operating expenses"

http://thequeensproject.org/donations.htm

He also is planning to buy, restore and sail the SS United States, which is already gutted, unused, available, and more endangered. Why doesn't he get that before the scrappers, to cut his teeth on? It should be cheaper, too. If he was serious, that would make more sense. Get that one up and running.

http://www.sidesenterprises.com/

More could be said and documented, but I'm with Juan Pardell on the shady and shadowy nature of things everywhere you look. Too bad Mr. Sides isn't using his skills and the resulting donations to help the historical Queen Mary, instead of seeking donations promoting a fantasy one.

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