“FABULOUS AT FIFTY” QUEEN MARY IN LONG BEACH
Presented by Pat Dacey
October 27, 2017 @ 6:00 pm
On October 31, 1967, the QUEEN MARY left Southampton for the final time on her “Last Great Cruise” arriving in Long Beach on December 9, 1967. Almost 50 years to the day of her final departure, PONY Branch members and guests enjoyed learning about her “encore” career in Long Beach, California as member Pat Dacey took us on a photographic journey of her 50 years as a tourist attraction, a movie and television plot and prop and a beloved icon for ocean liner enthusiasts.
Over her fifty-year career in Long Beach, QUEEN MARY has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places, accepted by The National Trust for Historic Preservation as part of their Historic Hotels of America, and has welcomed RMS QUEEN MARY 2, QUEEN VICTORIA and QUEEN ELIZABETH to her new home.
Although owned by the City of Long Beach, QUEEN MARY has had many operators, including, but not limited to, Jack Wrather, Disney and Delaware North, and at times, has struggled with success. In his program, Pat Dacey looked at many of these operators and their various plans to upgrade, renovate and restore the great ship.
In 2016, Urban Commons, a real estate company assumed the lease of QUEEN MARY and announced plans to extensively renovate the QUEEN at a cost of $250 million dollars while at the same time taking action to stabilize her in response to a 2017 report on the ship’s structurally deteriorating condition. Significant repairs are needed at an additional estimated cost of $300 million dollars.
Currently, many of the repairs are underway and the great renovation has started. It appears that the QUEEN is on her way to once again regain her title as “The Stateliest Ship”.
Pat Dacey is a long-time PONY Branch member whose interest in ships, especially in Cunard Line, goes back 40 years. Pat first visited the QUEEN MARY in Long Beach in the early 70’s and has been a frequent visitor ever since.
(Photo Credit: Pat Dacey)