The City of Long Beach, California, has announced plans to develop 43 acres of land surrounding Queen Mary, recently home to an increasing number of music festivals.
Yesterday, in a status update on the retired cruise ship, the city shared details on the development plans, roughly one year after its reopening to the public following a COVID-19 and repair-related closure.
In line with Insomniac’s recent choice to hold festivals like Day Trip, Apocalypse Zombieland, and Dreamstate on the Queen Mary Waterfront, the city said the future of the Queen Mary and the nearby Harry Bridges Memorial Park will be dependent on entertainment and live music experiences.
The city’s plans for the area include building a temporary amphitheater on the waterfront, which is expected to help meet the demands of area concert promoters and generate additional revenue for Long Beach.
Officials will also conduct a formal study evaluating the feasibility of a permanent amphitheater, a marina, and an updated cruise terminal.
According to Los Angeles’s news outlet KTLA, the waterfront is considered “one of the most lucrative and important sites for future development in all of Southern California.”
Long Beach also plans to demolish and pave over the adjacent English Village, which the city said has become “vacant and dilapidated” since it opened in 1970 to house shops and tourist attractions.
In 2021, the City of Long Beach took control of the Queen Mary for the first time in 40 years after its previous owner, Urban Commons, a real estate developer, filed for bankruptcy.
Following live music events held on the waterfront and the reopening of the Queen Mary ship for hotel stays and festival afterparties—a product of Insomniac’s recent Vibee partnership—the Queen Mary has seen an uptick in revenue, roughly $300,000 per month, according to its 2023 year-end fiscal report.
Featured image from Insomniac Events
