The Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area is finally getting a boat.<\/p>\n
The Homestead-based, eight-county heritage area, established in 1996, has always pined for a vessel to give industrial tourists a more connected view of the region\u2019s riverine landscape once dominated by the hundreds of mills and foundries that grew like giant, fiery, smoke-spewing mushrooms along the region\u2019s river banks.<\/p>\n
By fall it should get its wish, said Augie Carlino, the heritage area\u2019s president and CEO, with the takeover of the Voyager, a custom-built, hybrid-diesel boat that\u2019s been operated by RiverQuest, an educational non-profit, since 2009.<\/p>\n
Mr. Carlino said Rivers of Steel and RiverQuest still must close on the agreement to take over the boat, and the state attorney general must approve it. And Rivers of Steel is still fundraising to pay for the transition \u2014 it needs $1.7 million for the first three years of operations.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut it\u2019s going to happen. Almost certainly,\u201d he said. \u201dI think we\u2019ll be able to close the deal by the end of August and begin offering tours in the fall.\u201d<\/p>\n
Part of the takeover agreement requires RiverQuest to do a $200,000 retrofit of the 90-foot-long boat\u2019s engine before ownership is transferred, and Mr. Carlino said that is \u201calmost all done.\u201d When it is finished, the hybrid engine will be able to run for an hour off of on-board batteries that can be recharged at the dock or while cruising with an engine that can run on a diesel fuel mixture that is up to 20 percent animal or vegetable biofuel.<\/p>\n
Under Rivers of Steel command, Mr. Carlino said, the Voyager will still be used for school educational programming, but the emphasis will shift toward sightseeing tours, private charters and a regular schedule of tours emphasizing the industrial history of the region and its rivers.<\/p>\n
An interactive map showing the locations and names of mills and foundries is available on the Rivers of Steel website<\/a>.<\/p>\n