Kalakala can stay in Lake Union

Nearly a year after attempts to shoo it away from its North Lake Union habitat, Seattle's famous old "flying bird" will be allowed to roost there after all.

The Army Corps of Engineers and Seattle Mayor Paul Schell have determined that the rusty but famous Depression-era ferry Kalakala -- "flying bird" in Chinook jargon -- no longer faces fines because its nose pokes into a Ship Canal navigation zone from its moorage.

Last September, the city warned the Kalakala Foundation that it could face $75-a-day fines after a routine aerial shoreline inspection found that it poked 30 feet over the boundary line into the shipping lane.

The determination touched off a scramble to find a new home that almost saw the vessel go to Port Angeles, where civic leaders envisioned it as a restored waterfront attraction.

Yesterday, Corps of Engineers spokeswoman Patricia Graesser said a survey finalized in May found that, yes, the vessel is 32 feet too far into the shipping lane, but, no, it's not a hazard to navigation.

The long survey, conducted last fall and again this spring, found that boats traversing the 350-foot-wide channel, which begins 300 feet from the pier head, don't pass anywhere near the Kalakala, moored off 2505 N. Northlake Way.

Nor has anyone complained about it, she said.

In an April 4 letter to Kalakala Foundation director Peter Bevis, Schell, whose office has been trying to help, wrote:

"The Kalakala has not been determined to be a hazard to navigation by the Army Corps of Engineers, and therefore no immediate enforcement action (by the city) or monetary penalties are being imposed at its current location."

Schell spokesman Dick Lilly said yesterday that "we're really glad that it worked out for Peter. We hope that he's able to raise money and bring the Kalakala back to its original state. It's a great symbol from Seattle's past."

Having the heat off is a relief, albeit a small one for Bevis and the Kalakala Foundation.

"It helps," Bevis said recently while unloading engine parts retrieved from a Utah power plant. But funding overall remains "dismal," he said.

The one-of-a-kind art-deco ferry needs major repairs, and the foundation is deeply in debt as well as two years in arrears on taxes.

Donations are quickly eaten up and no longer keep up with expenses, Bevis said.

Bevis relies on pro bono work from an accounting firm, and new board members have made righting the vessel's financial keel a priority. Board member David Ruble is putting together a much-needed business plan to float to potential investors.

Bevis said the foundation is $38,000 in arrears in moorage alone, while he owes a large chunk of $65,000 to a marine surveyor and a tug company that helped rescue the vessel from Alaska two years ago.

On the plus side, the Seattle City Council last year accepted a $285,000 federal grant to help the Kalakala, money that will be freed up when the foundation comes up with $700,000 in private funding. Inspecting and repairing the hull, which hasn't been seen in more than 30 years, can answer a lot of questions, Bevis said.

The Kalakala was built in 1935 on the hull of an old San Francisco ferry that burned to the waterline. It was rebuilt in Seattle and run by the private Black Ball Co. as the world's first streamlined ferry.

Though prone to violent engine vibration and known for ramming docks, the vessel won fans with its futuristic style and creature comforts, including an on-board orchestra, dance floor and showers for commuters.

A Seattle symbol before the Space Needle, the boat was retired in 1967 after ferrying 30 million passengers around Puget Sound, mainly because its car lanes were too narrow for modern vehicles. It was sold in 1969 and wound up forgotten, rotting in the Alaska mud, before Bevis rediscovered it in 1988 and had it towed 1,700 miles to Seattle in November 1999.

P-I reporter Mike Barber can be reached at 206-448-8018 or mikebarber@seattlepi.com

Add P-I Local headlines to