Vancouver’s Abandoned “Floating McDonald’s” is About to Get a $4.5 Million Facelift

If you live in Vancouver, you’re probably well aware of the floating eyesore that is the McBarge. Abandoned for 30 years now, the once floating McDonald’s (yes, it existed), is about to look a lot different.

It has just been announced that the now dilapidated ship – which was built for an estimated $12 million – is getting a $4.5 million makeover.

The ship was built back in 1986 for the World Fair Expo in Vancouver, a celebration of Vancouver’s birthday. After a few years, it was towed to Vancouver’s harbour, left to decay and become a canvass for wannabe graffiti artists.

Thanks to the hefty investment by the ship’s current owner, Howard Meakin, the ship will set sail once again – but it will look a lot different than it did in its grease-filled heyday. A better reason than any to indulge in a fast food binge, the McBarge offered an experience unique to any other McDonald’s, complete with beautiful mountainous views, McDonald’s branded portholes, servers decked out in nautical uniforms, and a high-tech (for the times) conveyer belt that delivered food to a serving counter.

According to the North Shore News, the restaurant dished up about 1,500 meals a day.

Whether the ship will return to offer Happy Meals and Big Macs remains unknown. Back in December, Meakin remained tight-lipped on the ship’s future, telling the Vancouver Sun that, once restored and refitted, the ship could be in Vancouver, but “it could be in other places as well.”

“I can’t tell you what the plan is,” he told the Sun. “We’re under a non-disclosure agreement, but it fits in with the 30th anniversary of the Exposition.”

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