F I R S TP R E V884NEXTLAST

Barney Gould Floats a Bad Idea
During the 1950s Aquatic Park was the site of one of the most bitterly fought legal battles the city's history. It all started when a local actor and writer turned theatrical producer named Barney Gould decided that the city needed a fabulous showboat to bring nightclub gambling and minstrel show entertainment to its residents. In 1947 he bought the 741-ton sternwheeler Capitol City but two years later while waiting for financing the boat broke loose from its moorings and sank. Undiscouraged Gould purchased the four-deck Fort Sutter and floated her to Aquatic Park.

Again Gould's financing faltered as investors withdrew from his scheme. For the next seven years the rat-infested eyesore rotted 150 yards off shore. Locals began to call for the dilapidated 'booze ship' to be towed away. As the very public legal battles to remove the boat dragged on, they were compounded by the fact that the beached 1139-ton showboat was no longer able to float. Finally on May 1, 1959 four teenagers snuck aboard in the darkness, poured gasoline on the ship's deck, and set her on fire, destroying her.

By that time the entire city was glad to see the rotten hulk gone. An angry and heartbroken Gould tore into the "ostrich City Hall" for encouraging the "merry murderous arson agents" and for killing his dream. Ironically, the spot where the Fort Sutter was torched is now the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park and today features a number of renovated old ships.
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