Doomed by monorail?

By Mike Lindblom
Seattle Times staff reporter

ALAN BERNER / THE SEATTLE TIMES A ship awaits painting at Fishing Vessel Owners Marine Ways on the south shore of the Ship Canal at Fishermen's Terminal.

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Fishing Vessel Owners Marine Ways, on the south shore of the Ship Canal at Fishermen's Terminal, was founded in 1919 as a shipyard to repair and build wooden boats.

The operation is unique because of how its two boat launches work. A hull rests inside a cradle, which rolls in and out of the water on submerged railways. Pulling force comes from gears and spools that were salvaged from logging equipment in the 1800s, while the braking levers were formerly used to halt trolleys — nearly all original parts, controlled from an old shed with a red "Monorail Recall" sign in the cracked window.

The planned monorail bridge, west of the Ballard Bridge roadway, would include columns both on land and in water. Don Lindblad, president of the marine business, believes the posts would obstruct at least one of the two launches, dooming the business.

	ALAN BERNER / THE SEATTLE TIMES Pat Corey controls the cables in the winch room at Fishing Vessel Owners Marine Ways at Fishermen's Terminal.

At risk are 30 jobs that pay $18 to $24 per hour plus medical and retirement benefits, for employees whose average age is 49. "We have blue-collar workers down here," Lindblad said. "It's the real world."

The business still fills a niche fixing wooden boats, including halibut schooners that were built there in the 1920s.

"They've been passed down through generations in the families, and some have never gone anyplace else," foreman Bill Corey said.

The Seattle Monorail Project (SMP) hired a consultant to look at alternatives to the underwater railways, such as a dry dock that floats and sinks like a giant waterfront elevator. But those would cost more than $6 million, and the agency can't afford them, spokeswoman Natasha Jones said. The business is considered the most difficult to relocate on the 14-mile monorail route, she said.

The agency's environmental-impact statement says the business "could be displaced." The Port of Seattle, which owns the property, has urged SMP to avoid it by placing monorail tracks east of the Ballard roadway bridge, spokesman Mick Shultz said.

Cascadia Monorail executive Six Silva, whose group submitted the sole proposal to build the 14-mile line, said column locations would be determined in final design, and he couldn't comment on current plans.

"Every effort will be made to mitigate any impacts to businesses along the route," Silva said.

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

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