The beleaguered barge on Chattanooga’s waterfront that has served as a lightning rod of criticism for years could be gone as early as Friday, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
The Corps is currently coordinating with other agencies a proposed plan to move the barge, said spokesman Lee Roberts on Tuesday.
“If all goes well with Coast Guard inspections this week, the barge will likely depart as early as Friday,” Roberts said in an email.
Will Ladnier of Gulfstream Enterprises of Biloxi, Miss., declined comment on Tuesday. But he said earlier that he and others were developing “a game plan” for the run-down barge that’s moored across the Tennessee River from Ross’s Landing.
Ladnier said he had a couple of different places where he was planning to take the barge without being specific. One plan that was mentioned in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in a prior hearing was that the barge would be floated down river and ultimately to Mobile Bay.
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According to the plan, Ladnier’s company was to take ownership of the vessel, which was brought to the city’s waterfront in 2009 by Chattanooga businessman Allen Casey to serve as a floating restaurant. Casey and one of his companies filed for bankruptcy more than a year ago, and the barge has been part of those cases since then.
Under the court plan, Gulf-stream was to be paid $195,000 to remove the barge and was given a May 15 deadline to do so.
Earlier this month, the barge was raised from the bottom of the river after it partially sank.
Chattanooga attorney Jerrold Farinash, trustee in the bankruptcy case, said then that the Corps and Coast Guard needed information from Gulfstream about the barge and how it would be moved.
Kim White, who heads the nonprofit downtown waterfront group River City Co., said it has taken some three years to get to the point where the barge finally could be gone.
White has called for looking at more regulations regarding the waterfront, where former Mayor now U.S. Sen. Bob Corker led a $120 million campaign to build the 21st century waterfront more than a decade ago.
Casey filed for bankruptcy after he was slated to go to trial in a lawsuit brought by a group of former investors in the barge.
Casey, who developed the Chattanooga Choo Choo more than three decades ago, also had proposed a hotel and condominiums on about 10 acres of vacant land to which the barge is moored. About six acres of the site was earlier put on the market for $11.2 million.
A bank loan from Southern Community Bank is being used to pay for Gulfstream to remove the barge. The loan is to be paid back from proceeds of the land sale, attorneys have said.