St. Helens woos pirate festival, but it could cost them

Dismayed with Cathedral Park in Portland, Pirate Festival organizers set sights on St. Helens — but seek costly incentives in the process

By Stover E. Harger III

The South County Spotlight, Feb 10, 2010, Updated Feb 11, 2010 (7 Reader comments)

Submitted photo illustration / The South County Spotlight

INTO THE BLUE – For over 40 years, the Sultana ship has been docked in the San Francisco Bay Area, promoting education and catching the eyes of tourists. Now the city of St. Helens hopes to find a way to raise up to $250,000 in order to berth the pirate ship-replica on the Olde Towne waterfront permanently, and at the same time entice the annual Portland Pirate Festival to town with it.

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It can’t be often that a city pleads for thousands of buccaneers to storm their waterfront. But that’s what the city of St. Helens is hoping for as officials try to find a way to purchase a full-size pirate ship replica to entice the Portland Pirate Festival from its yearly spot at Cathedral Park to our shores.

But moving the dormant ship — the Brigantine Sultana — from its current home in the San Francisco bay area to the docks of St. Helens doesn’t look like it will be easy, quick or cheap. The ship itself would cost anywhere from $18,000 to $32,000, but costs could skyrocket to nearly $250,000 after the equipment rentals, pier rehabilitations and upgrades that would be needed.

And last week, after months of discussions and pondering, Skip Baker, retired community development director for St. Helens, has helped put together an exploration committee to figure out just how they can make it work.

“If the numbers aren’t there then the thing may fall apart, but if the numbers are there, and the volunteers are there, the thing might work,” Baker said. “If this were to be successful this could be a major feature of the city of St. Helens to have.”

If you build it, he will come

St. Helens has been trying to court the Pirate Festival to town for some time. Like many of their other tourism-related plans, officials hope a 90-foot ship in Olde Towne will draw people away from the highway to spend some time, and shop, in the struggling heart of the city.

Pirate Festival co-owner and manager Shuhe Hawkins — who now sits on the ad hoc Sultana committee and is on the cusp of pirate-related news — heard last year that the Sultana’s captain, Alan Karsevar, was looking to find a buyer in this region so he can bring the ship north. Hawkins brought this to the attention of city officials with one tantalizing fact — if they bring it, he will come.

Previously Hawkins had tried to contact Portland about purchasing the ship, but he said he got no word back. He did get some response from Astoria, but city leaders there ultimately turned down the plan. When he spoke with Amber Dennis, St. Helens tourism director and public relations manager, he got a different reply altogether, he said.

“We’ve been having some interesting struggles with the city of Portland,” he said about park regulations and other behind-the-scenes issues. “Having a place that has usable dock space and a place that has a tall ship would be a very enticing deal.”

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