Halverson said the sale of the Emerald Queen riverboat was brought to him by a broker who had spoken with the Puyallup Tribe about it. The publication said the boat’s most striking interior feature was a grand staircase that connected three decks in an atrium lit by a chandelier.
It had a capacity of 2,000 people.Ĭalling it a “Cajun Gem,” Northwest Yachting wrote that the boat’s design was an homage to 19th century riverboating, directed not by a propeller but by a “giant wooden stern wheel” that could get the boat to a top speed of 10 knots thanks to two Cummins diesel engines. A 1997 News Tribune story marking its opening reported that the Puyallup Tribe purchased the boat for $13 million and that the total project cost $21 million. According to the publication, the 700,000-square-foot, four-deck boat was built in 1995 by Louisiana-based Quality Shipyard and Kehl River Boats at a cost of $15 million. Before the sale, the riverboat was listed last year in Northwest Yachting Magazine.
