Black-Eyed Susan riverboat officially has new owner

SNOW HILL, Md.- It’s been an uphill battle for Snow Hill officials for more than two years, but the Black-Eyed Susan riverboat officially has a new owner.

Several weeks ago, the town of Snow Hill issued requests for proposals and received three bids by its October 3rd deadline. At Tuesday night’s council meeting, the mayor recommended the council award the bid to Henry Wright who submitted $75,000 dollar proposal.

Wright is the owner of River House Inn and plans to dock the boat in front of his facility to turn it into an entertainment venue. ” The owner wants to host private parties and he’s even talked about having the Dixie Land band concerts on the upper deck. It will be an added attraction to all the things in Snow Hill that makes people want to come here,” Town Manager Rick Pollitt said.

Pollitt said the next thing on the to-do list is have the town’s attorney draw up a contract of sale. He told 47ABC that will detail the responsibilities of the purchaser which includes things like securing insurance. We’re told the new owner will also encounter some expensive dock repairs before the boat can even be moved, which is why Wright has asked to keep the boat at the town dock.

In the meantime, a rental payment has been negotiated that will produce some income for the town. “We’re told it could take anywhere from 8-10 months for him to get the permits for his own dock and have it built before he can move the boat. So, she’s likely going to be where she is a while longer. Yet, she’ll be producing revenue for the town rather than costing us more money,” Pollitt said.

Pollitt said that since the new owner doesn’t have plans to restore the boat to full river travel, he wouldn’t incur the projected $600,000 it would take to get it back on the water. He added that the intent is to have a settlement and title exchange completed before the end of the October.