this abandon barge looks nothing out of the ordinary,
but back in 1986 the
barge was ground breaking, it was built for Expo '86 which
was the biggest event Vancouver, British Columbia, had ever produced, held to
celebrate the city's centennial, this world's fair is often credited as
launching Vancouver into a major tourist destination and while several stadiums
and other buildings built for the event have served the city's civic life well
enough in the years since the SkyTrain and BC Place, for example,
one rusting relic sits forlornly in a nearby inlet, despite ongoing attempts to
save it,
the "McBarge," as it has been lovingly nicknamed, was built
as either the world's first or second floating McDonald's (another was in St. Louis, and accounts differ), officially named the
Friendship 500, its construction was part of a strategic attempt by McDonald's
to appeal to class-conscious Yuppie consumers who began increasingly rejecting
chain restaurants during the 1980s, the reportedly $8 million construction (one
of five McDonald's on the Expo site) featured a futuristic exterior and an
interior with wooden floors, potted plants, wine-colored accents, and panoramic
views of the Expo grounds, the sad part is that today it sits empty
and forgotten,
but all is not lost for this iconic barge, developer
Howard Meakin and his wife Kathy bought the boat in early 2010, and have
submitted a proposal to the Mission, British Columbia, city council for a
waterfront development that would use a refurbished McBarge as the centerpiece,
the plan is to create a destination restaurant complex called Sturgeon's on the
River, complete with several restaurants, a marina, and a seaplane
terminal, according to discussions on the
Sturgeon's on the Fraser Facebook group (formerly
called “Save the McBarge”), the plan has local support, but is currently mired
in bureaucratic red tape, hopefully the red tape will be cut and the
McBarge will be frying again.
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