The Queen Mary Will Reopen To The Public In June

After millions of dollars in repairs, reports, and drama surrounding a company who didn’t quite know what to do with it, the iconic Queen Mary ship is finally reopening to the public next month. But as the Long Beach Post reports, that reopening is coming with a price.

While the ship will technically open on May 12th, that will only be for hotel guests who are staying aboard. The full reopening will take place in June with weekend brunch starting again the following month. And while the reopening will see the addition of a new bar and two new restaurants to the ship, there’s repair work to be done. To complete it, the city of Long Beach went to the Port of Long Beach for help.

The city and the port came to an agreement that seems to benefit both sides. The port gained control of 14 acres around the ship in exchange for giving the city $12 million for the ship’s reopening. While the city says it’ll release details of just how the $12 million will be spent later this year, they’re receiving a $7 million advance from it, presumably for the long list of repairs still needed. The city estimates that it will use the $12 million over three years, but the port won’t see its money repaid for over a decade.

But it finally looks as if Long Beach is totally behind making the ship profitable this time around. While some residents were calling for the city to get rid of the Queen Mary, reports found that it would take too much time and money to do it. But this time around, the city is hopeful that the ship will generate enough revenue to make it profitable.

“We’re going to help grow tourism and hospitality. We’re going to look for things on the ship that generate revenue so we can use the revenue to create more revenue that can be reinvested in the ship,” said one city council member.

Source: https://jalopnik.com/