The McBarge, officially named the ''Friendship 500'', is a former

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechri ...

restaurant, built on a

barge Barge nowadays generally refers to a flat-bottomed inland waterway vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. The first modern barges were pulled by tugs, but nowadays most are pushed by pusher boats, or other vessels ...

for

Expo '86 The 1986 World Exposition on Transportation and Communication, or simply Expo 86, was a World's Fair held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada from May 2 until October 13, 1986. The fair, the theme of which was "Transportation and Communicatio ...

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

. Moored on Expo grounds in Vancouver's

False Creek False Creek (french: Faux ruisseau) is a short narrow inlet in the heart of Vancouver, separating the Downtown and West End neighbourhoods from the rest of the city. It is one of the four main bodies of water bordering Vancouver, along with ...

, it was the second floating McDonald's location in the world (the first being in

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

), intended to showcase future technology and architecture. Although the floating design allowed for the barge to operate in a new location following the exhibition, the derelict McBarge was anchored empty in

Burrard Inlet french: Baie Burrard , image = Burrard Inlet 201807.jpg , image_size = 250px , alt = , caption = Aerial view of Burrard Inlet , image_bathymetry = Burrard-Inlet-map-en.svg , alt_bathymetry ...

from 1991, amid industrial barges and an oil refinery, until it was moved in December 2015 to Maple Ridge, British Columbia. Apart from brief use by its original owner, McDonald's, in 1986, the McBarge has never actively been used for anything and has been drifting from owner to owner for thirty-four years.

History

The floating restaurant was designed by

Robert Allan Ltd. Robert Allan Ltd. is Canada's oldest privately owned consulting Naval Architectural firm, established in Vancouver, British Columbia in 1930. Their experience includes designs for vessels of almost all types, from small fishing boats to ocean- ...

for Expo 1986 and was one of five

locations on the Expo grounds, all of which were constructed for a total of $12 million. McDonald's originally intended to continue using it as a restaurant after Expo '86, but the barge remained empty at the Expo grounds until 1991, when the new owner of the grounds forced McDonald's to remove it. It has since been anchored derelict in

, north of

Burnaby, British Columbia Burnaby is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada. Located in the centre of the Burrard Peninsula, it neighbours the City of Vancouver to the west, the District of North Vancouver across the confluence of the Burrard Inl ...

. In 2003,

Marvel Entertainment Marvel Entertainment, LLC (formerly Marvel Enterprises) is an American show business, entertainment company (law), company founded in June 1998 and based in New York City, New York (state), New York, formed by the merger of #Marvel Entertainment ...

and

New Line Cinema New Line Cinema is an American film production studio owned by Warner Bros. Discovery and is a film label of Warner Bros. It was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye as an independent film distribution company; later becoming a film studio after acq ...

rented the barge as a filming location for the 2004 film '' Blade: Trinity'' as the lair of the Nightstalkers. In June 2009, the McBarge's current owner,

Gastown Gastown is the original settlement that became the core of the city of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and a national historic site and a neighbourhood in the northwest section of the Downtown Eastside, adjacent to Downtown Vancouver. Its hi ...

developer Howard Meakin, submitted a proposal to the

Mission Mission (from Latin ''missio'' "the act of sending out") may refer to: Organised activities Religion *Christian mission, an organized effort to spread Christianity *Mission (LDS Church), an administrative area of The Church of Jesus Christ of ...

city council for a waterfront development on the

Fraser River The Fraser River is the longest river within British Columbia, Canada, rising at Fraser Pass near Blackrock Mountain in the Rocky Mountains and flowing for , into the Strait of Georgia just south of the City of Vancouver. The river's annual d ...

, with the former McBarge as the centrepiece. Named "Sturgeon's on the Fraser", the development would include multiple restaurants and a

marina A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : ''marina'', "coast" or "shore") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats. A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships o ...

complex, including

paddlewheeler A paddle steamer is a steamship or steamboat powered by a steam engine that drives paddle wheels to propel the craft through the water. In antiquity, paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, where the first uses wer ...

excursions and

float plane A floatplane is a type of seaplane with one or more slender floats mounted under the fuselage to provide buoyancy. By contrast, a flying boat uses its fuselage for buoyancy. Either type of seaplane may also have landing gear suitable for land, ...

service to

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

and

Nanaimo Nanaimo ( ) is a city on the east coast of Vancouver Island, in British Columbia, Canada. As of the Canada 2021 Census, 2021 census, it had a population of 99,863, and it is known as "The Harbour City." The city was previously known as the "H ...

. As of August 2010, the proposal enjoyed local support, but awaited council approval. Concerns over float plane noise and other environmental issues meant the development was ultimately rejected. Other proposals that have been put forward without owner interest include using the barge as a

homeless shelter Homeless shelters are a type of homeless service agency which provide temporary residence for homeless individuals and families. Shelters exist to provide residents with safety and protection from exposure to the weather while simultaneously r ...

to alleviate overcrowding in Vancouver's current temporary shelters. In December 2015, Meakin announced that the barge would soon be leaving Burrard Inlet after nearly 30 years. It was moved to

Maple Ridge, British Columbia Maple Ridge is a city in British Columbia, Canada. It is located in the northeastern section of Greater Vancouver between the Fraser River and the Golden Ears, which is a group of mountain summits which are the southernmost of the Garibaldi ...

on December 22. The barge was scheduled for a $4.5-million refit there before being relocated to an undisclosed location. In 2017, the barge's owners, alongside diving pioneer

Phil Nuytten René Théophile "Phil" Nuytten, (born August 13, 1941) is a Canadian entrepreneur, deep-ocean explorer, scientist, inventor of the Newtsuit, and founder of Nuytco Research Ltd. He has pioneered designs related to diving equipment, and has wo ...

, announced plans to convert it into an attraction called the ''Deep Ocean'' ''Discovery Centre''. An event was planned for 21 October 2017 to launch a crowdfunding campaign, but was cancelled due to weather concerns. A petition to Vancouver City council to give the barge Historic Place Status received only 185 signatures. No mention has been made of a rescheduled event, its Facebook and Twitter have not been updated since 2017, and its YouTube account has been closed. In 2020, it was reported that there were plans to refit the barge into a seafood restaurant, though a location had not been secured. Later in 2021 it was reported that an undisclosed site had been selected but was awaiting government approval.

References

{{McDonald's Buildings and structures in Vancouver Restaurants in Vancouver Floating restaurants World's fair architecture in Vancouver McDonald's buildings and structures Expo 86