by Jared » September 11, 2022, 11:43 pm
There was never any real discussions relating to the Crapo. For over 15 years there was a group up in MN who tried to purchase the JB Ford and had multiple fundraisers for it. They even tried to settle on saving the forward cabins and pilothouse only and that didn't even happen. LaFarge made one final offer for only several hundred grand and it couldn't be met. The costs of asbestos removal alone would dwarf the costs of acquiring the ship and in the end, the Ford went to the breakers. The Crapo was living on borrowed time as was the Ford. The museum ships left here on the lakes are hard enough to upkeep, adding another might have doomed an established museum.
There was never any real discussions relating to the Crapo. For over 15 years there was a group up in MN who tried to purchase the JB Ford and had multiple fundraisers for it. They even tried to settle on saving the forward cabins and pilothouse only and that didn't even happen. LaFarge made one final offer for only several hundred grand and it couldn't be met. The costs of asbestos removal alone would dwarf the costs of acquiring the ship and in the end, the Ford went to the breakers. The Crapo was living on borrowed time as was the Ford. The museum ships left here on the lakes are hard enough to upkeep, adding another might have doomed an established museum.