The McBarge, once a floating McDonald’s Restaurant on the Vancouver waterfront during Expo 86, is now sunken in the Fraser River in Maple Ridge, and standing in the way of progress.
John Anjo is the founder of a Maple Ridge company that creates prefab houses, and his plan is to build them on a barge. The Dwelltech Industries barge would be moored locally, but Anjoy’s plan is to float it to communities along the BC Coast and islands to build his “Dwelly” homes there.
His business associate is Bill Christensen of Supreme Structural Transport, which is located on the Fraser, off River Road. Christensen would allow Anjo’s barge and floating house factory to moor at his property, but first they need to get rid of the McBarge – which was christened the Friendship 500 when it launched.
“It couldn’t be any more in the way,” groused Anjo.
His business is busy in the current housing crisis. His Dwelly prefab homes are trucked from a site on Katonien Street all over B.C. and beyond. His most popular product is a finished two-bedroom, 660 square foot home, that sells for about $200,000. He said it has become an attractive housing option.
“After 10 years in business, you can become an overnight success,” said Anjo.
Needing to expand, he has designed a “floating house factory.” The idea is to build the factory on a 76-metre barge. It would include housing for four builders, as well as space for all the materials to build 12 Dwellies.
“We would manufacture on the barge, and roll finished houses out the end,” he asserted.
He is looking at communities on Haida Gwaii and in more remote spots to take his barge. The Dwellies, with their trademark tin curved roof line that was borrowed from airline hangars, are ideal for cold, snowy, rainy conditions, he said. He’s had building permits for them across the province, as far away as Fort St. John.
“They’re perfect for remote environments,” said Anjo.
He could also offer trades training opportunities for plumbers, electricians, carpenters and cabinet makers in these remote communities, he said, and just expose young people to work in the trades.
His plans – skills training and affordable housing – are in perfect lockstep with government initiatives at every level, but he can’t launch his floating Dwelly factory.
For about 12 months, he’s tried to get the McBarge moved, so he can get on with the business expansion, to no avail.
Christensen has tried for longer, and said government officials refuse to take responsibility for the McWreck.
The McBarge was bought by developer Howard Meakin, who passed away in April. Best known for his work revitalizing Vancouver’s Gastown, he towed the McBarge to Maple Ridge, struck a deal with Christensen’s father for moorage, and had crews refurbishing the listing vessel.
Meakin wanted to create a floating restaurant and waterfront development in Mission, but was thwarted by Mission city hall, as the municipality bought riverfront property he needed for his project.
Meakin, when he was alive, and the company that currently owns the big boat, Sturgeon Developments, were apparently unable or unwilling to float the McBarge someplace else.
“We’ve been trying to get it moved for a long time now,” said Christensen, noting he could find no remedy through the legal system.
It was falling into disrepair, listing badly, and one day he arrived at work to find it had sunk.
He said crews had pumped it out and kept it floating, but when their work stopped, so did its buoyancy.
“For the last 20 years it’s been in a state of perpetual sinking,” he said, but added the sinking was surprisingly sudden.
Trying to get it removed, he has been “shrugged off” by every level of government.
He said the McBarge’s hull is made from about four inches of concrete over lightweight polystyrene foam.
He appreciates the business expansion Anjo is proposing, and said government should be supporting it.
“I’m a fan of the whole Dwelly model, I think it’s fantastic,” he said. “We would love to have him down here.”
They have been in touch with a non-profit society that removes derelict vessels from the BC coast.
John Roe is from the Dead Boats Disposal Society, which keeps an inventory of dead boats, and is dedicated to their removal. He would be interested to see whether the McBarge could be floated back up and restored or salvaged. Roe expects it would be an expensive job, and the issue is whether the owners can be made to pay, or whether the federal government, through Transport Canada, would finance the project.
Those key questions must be answered first, he said.
“We’re more than willing to commit to it,” said Roe. “We’re interested in getting it out of the water.”