JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A boat that once sat docked near the Chart House along the South Bank Riverwalk on the St. Johns River began slowly taking on water about a month ago, slipping deeper into the water and spilling oil into the river.
The oil has been cleaned up but the party boat, known as The Lady St. John, still sits along the bank of the river slowly slipping under.
The boat once held a lot of memories for residents like Teslyn Wilson and Ruth Chappell who grew up with it in their lives but now it's filled with trash, glass, baskets and a soda machine and residents are saying it's become an eyesore.
"My class, class of '90, was on this boat, a couple of years ago actually," Wilson said.
When the boat began dipping sideways into the St. Johns River, diesel fuel was seeping out and the Department of Environmental Protection and Coast Guard put absorbing booms around the vessel to soak up the oil. The DEP said environmentally speaking, the boat is no longer causing any issues.
But Chappell, who likes to run the Riverwalk, said there's a lot of junk that needs to be taken away.
"This has to be taken care of, it can't be left like this. It's a mess, it needs to be cleaned up," Chappell said. "You can see this glass broken out, this stuff floating around inside, there's still lawn furniture up on the deck."
The offices for Jax River Cruises, the owner of the Lady St. John, are now empty and attempts to find the owner of the company have ended unsuccessfully.
The pier, where the boat sits, is owned by the city of Jacksonville but the city has given no word on what they plan to do with the sinking vessel.
The St. Johns River Keeper, a local watchdog group, said the boat has got to go one way or another.
"The river is already bad and for this to just sit there like it's an attraction, that's sad," Wilson said.
