Memphis Steamboaters Await Cruise Revival

Waterways Journal
11 July 2011
By David Murray

The Web site of the newly formed Great American Steamboat Company is up — but the only thing you can do on it right now is sign up for more information.

That could soon change, however.The new company is completing its purchase of the American Queen with a final payment due in July, according to Travel Pulse magazine, a trade magazine for travel professionals. Travel Pulse said the company now plans to open for business in mid-August from its new Memphis headquarters. Company officer Christopher Kyte said the company would offer three- to 10-night river cruises stopping in New Orleans, Memphis, St. Louis, Minneapolis-St. Paul, and Pittsburgh.

Principals of the Great American Steamboat Company include experienced river cruise veterans. John Waggoner is president and chief executive officer of HMS Global Marine, which operates vessels for state and federal agencies; Kyte is the founder of travel company Uncommon journeys; and Jeff Krida is the former president of Delta Queen in the 1990s, who also has led RiverBarge Excursion Line and Cruise West.

At least one vessel would be homeported in Memphis. In February, Barry Lendermon, president of Memphis' Riverfront Development Corporation, said that the move could mean up to 500 jobs for the city.

Mayor A. C. Wharton said, "We are a river city, and the Great American Steamboat Company fits hand-in-glove with our famed reputation as one of the greatest cities along the Mississippi River."

Kyte told Travel Pulse that he would like to eventually expand service to smaller river towns. "There are a lot of little towns — like Red Wing (Minn.), Winona (Minn.), and LaCrosse (Wis.) — for which it was a big deal when the boat came into town with 400 visitors spending money."

A Memphis "master plan" for riverfront development was approved in 2002. It includes "a landing designed to accommodate the largest commercial riverboats and facilities for passengers with luggage." The project was a big part of what lured the Great American Steamboat Company to Memphis, according to the Memphis Commercial Appeal.

Although many parts of the riverfront master plan have changed since then, Memphis' city council has been working to develop the Beale Street Landing, which would include a cobblestone dock for cruise vessels like the Mississippi Queen, as well as a park and restaurant. Through the years, the need for docking for Mississippi River passenger vessels has been consistently put forward as a justification for the project — even after overnight river passenger cruises halted three years ago.

With the last phase of the project approved by the city council four years ago, it was originally supposed to have been completed by the fall of 2010. This summer's floods halted much riverfront activity, other than parking to view the floodwaters, which has become a popular pastime.

The Beale Street Landing project has had its local critics. Its cost has gone up since it was originally proposed, and now stands at about $40 million. In June, the city council voted to spend a final $9.75 million to complete it.

The Commercial Appeal praised the council's decision, and said boarding fees from riverboat landings would help pay for the project's completion. While it acknowledged cost overruns, the paper editorialized, "[While] voting to spend $9.75 million on the landing project probably seems irresponsible in the eyes of a lot of people.... leaving Beale Street Landing incomplete...would have been irresponsible.

The Mississippi riverfront is one of Memphis' greatest assets. Beale Street Landing completed as designed will enhance that asset, be an economic development engine and help connect people to the river."