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Max Standen and his team have already put in hundreds of hours and will put in hundreds more into a project they say will help revive a piece of Kelowna, B.C.’s history.
“Blood, sweat and tears has been an understatement of what’s gone into the project,” said Max Standed, who owns the Okanagan Luxury Boat Club.Standen along with some investors jumped at the opportunity to buy the historic Fintry Queen earlier this year.The nearly 80-year-old boat was once a ferry that, prior to Kelowna’s original floating bridge, would transport people between Kelowna and West Kelowna.Once the first bridge was built in 1958, the Fintry Queen became an entertainment venue but the vessel has encountered some rough waters in recent years, falling into disrepair.“Our main goal is to bring it back to its former glory,” Standen told Global News. “It’s funny, you know someone my age to be interested in something of this age but growing up, coming to the lake every summer, some of my best childhood memories my entire life have been, you know, made up on this lake. And this is one of the significant landmarks of this lake.” Standen has quite a vision for the vessel including re-doing the entire onboard diming room and creating a fully licensed restaurant and event space.
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But the plans go well beyond that.“I have the vision for live music, dance floor. We are looking at possibly designing a permanent stage,” Standed added.While there is still lots of work to do to get this vessel refurbished, the goal is to have it operational for next year’s tourism season, at least having it docked in Kelowna somewhere being enjoyed by locals and tourists alike.
“It will be a permanently staged boat for the time being. However, we do have future plans to eventually offer sailing cruises once again,”Standen said.Calling it an integral part of Kelowna’s past, the Central Okanagan Heritage Society said it’s thrilled to see the Fintry Queen being restored. “The Fintry Queen is a neat embodiment of early transportation; we didn’t have a way to cross the lake,” said Shona Harrison, a director with the Central Okanagan Heritage Society. “So it’s certainly a part — and viable part — of Kelowna’s history.”Standen can’t wait to get the renovations done so that the Fintry Queen can be enjoyed by people that remember it from the past and those just learning about it now.“It’ll be kind of a blend between the older and newer generations,” said Standen.
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