Ambassadors International today announced that the Delta Queen will be leased to Chattanooga, TN, to operate as a floating hotel there.

Our mission is clear: We’ll continue to fight for the exemption so the Delta Queen eventually will be able to run as an overnight passenger vessel again as soon as possible. Ambassadors International says in the press release that they "will also continue pursuing a congressional exemption for the 82-year old vessel" and that they consider Chattanooga as a temporary place the the Delta Queen.

It seams to be a good thing that the Delta Queen is being taken care of at Chattanooga instead of laying on idle at New Orleans where she’s exposed to potential thiefs and vandals. Also, the Delta Queen will be accessible for visitors at Chattanooga and the press release also mentiones visitor tours, so there might be a great chance to see places like the engine room which never has been accessible to visitors or even passengers while she was operating as a cruise vessel.

The Delta Queen has been nominated for inclusion on the National Trust for Preservation’s 2009 list of America’s Most Endangered Historic Places. The nomination was submitted in December by noted Kentucky preservationist and longtime Trust member Donald E. Clare, Jr.

Whether you are a member of the Trust or not, please contact them, by phone, fax, letter, or email to second Don’s nomination. You don’t need to go into detail. A simple "Please include the Delta Queen on your 2009 list of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places" will do the job.

National Trust for Historic Preservation
Communications Office/11 Most Endangered
1785 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20036
Phone: 202-588-6141
Fax: 202-588-6038

Email: 11Most@nthp.org

And here’s where you can learn more about the 11 Most Endangered List: www.preservationnation.org/issues/11-most-endangered/

About the Delta Queen

The Delta Queen is the last traditional steamboat carrying overnight passengers on America’s inland waterways. For that reason, she has been designated a National Historic Landmark.

Vicki Webster, leader of the grassroots Save the Delta Queen Campaign, said, “We are still hopeful that the President will act to save this literally unique and irreplaceable part of our history. If he does not, we will continue our efforts on the legislative front when the 111th Congress convenes in January. In 1970, the only other time we had difficulty renewing the exemption, the Trust’s then-president James Biddle played a crucial role in our victory. We are counting on the Trust to come to our aid once again.”

Mr. Biddle was also the key player behind the boat’s 1970 inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places. It was a joint designation by the Department of the Interior and the National Trust for Historic Preservation. This is an excerpt from the Trust’s announcement of the listing: The Delta Queen is the last survivor of a once thriving fleet of steam paddleboats plying the inland waters of the United States, and deserves to, indeed, must survive as a living reminder of an important era of America history. . . . The loss of the Delta Queen as an operating vessel carrying overnight passengers on the Mississippi and its tributaries would be an irreplaceable one and would remove the last remaining link with the steam-boating tradition of nineteenth and early twentieth century America.