Efforts began Thursday to raise the sunken Casey barge so it and the restaurant above it can be floated downriver to Mobile, Ala., and rid Chattanooga of a longtime eyesore.
Bankruptcy Trustee Jerry Farinash said, "We had a bunch of pumps out there today trying to raise it."
He said while that effort is underway, the Mobile firm of Gulf Stream LLC is working with the Army Corps of Engineers and the Coast Guard to seek to gain permission to float the entire structure away.
"They will have to prove that it is seaworthy and not a danger to other commerce," attorney Farinash said.
He said Gulf Stream is being paid $195,000 to take the barge and restaurant section away.
The attorney said Gulf Stream in the past has created a number of artificial reefs and it may seek permission to use the Casey barge and restaurant for that purpose.
If that does not work, he said the firm will likely keep it in storage. He said it would be salvaged if no other use is found.
Developer Allen Casey had planned a restaurant at the site, but it has long been vacant - to the dismay of government and tourism leaders.