A new proposal was offered Thursday for the removal of a dilapidated barge on Chattanooga’s downtown waterfront, and an Atlanta group is weighing a bid for land to which the vessel is moored.
A Florida company is proposing to dismantle the structure that sits atop the barge, located on the Tennessee River across from Ross’s Landing, and then float it downstream to a vacant tract where it would be cut up and salvaged.
But David Bernard, president of Pass LLC, said he wouldn’t proceed unless $250,000 is put into an escrow account to pay for his initial expenses as work is done. He predicted the entire removal project could cost upwards of $750,000.
“You’d have to have heavy equipment in there,” Bernard said, adding there’d be a lot of labor and some cleanup because debris has fallen into the river.
David Eck, who is associated with the Pass LLC proposal, said in U.S. Bankruptcy Court that he’s concerned the barge could sink. A pump that’s ridding water leaking into the barge isn’t adequate, he said.