One Boblo Boat will be Restored in New York

The S.S. Columbia, one of two Detroit Boblo Island Amusement Park boats built in 1902, is being restored on the Hudson River in New York. Her sister ship built in 1910, the S.S. Ste. Claire, was also undergoing a restoration when it was badly burned in a fire in July 2018; the Ste. Claire is now currently awaiting restoration.

The move from Detroit to New York in 2015 was a dangerous one for the Columbia. Bob Elliot, president of the S.S. Columbia Project, told mlive.com that they towed the Columbia from Detroit to the mouth of the Maumee, where they removed more than two tons of zebra mussels. 

Housing the historic steamboat in New York is a more financially viable option and will allow the more than $10 million project to continue for a few more years before the boat will steam along up and down the Hudson.

For more information and pictures of the restoration, visit mlive.com/news/index.ssf/2018/11/the_boblo_boat_is_being_restor.html.