California boat club sinks into Monongahela River
A former restaurant, still part of the California Boat Club, sits at the bottom of the Monongahela River. Owner Lawrence Victoria said he had been dealing with a slow leak there but between 11:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. the entire barge sank.
The California Boat Club which served as a restaurant until 2010 sank into the Monongahela River Wednesday evening.
Someone on a kayak passing by in the Monongahela River, checks out the California Boat Club as it sinks Wednesday afternoon in Coal Center.
A barge that served as a restaurant for nearly four decades sank into the Monongahela River near California, Pa., Wednesday afternoon.
“It’s a total loss,” said Lawrence Victoria, a former Monessen resident now living in Boca Raton, Fla. He estimated the damage to the barge off First Street in Coal Center at $400,000.
“I don’t know what happened,” Victoria said. “There had been a slow leak, but as of 11:30 a.m. it was fine. I went on errands and when I came back it had sunk. It is sitting at the bottom right now.”
Victoria bought the California Boat Club complex, including a gazebo and hotel rooms as well as the barge, in 1995. The club dated back to 1963.
While it had not operated as a restaurant since 2010, Victoria said the rest of the complex had been used for special events and he was looking to convert the complex into a bed and breakfast.
“I kept it because we still had a marina attached to it,” Victoria said.
While a couple loose barrels were seen, Victoria said everything else was contained within that barge.
There were no injuries.