Maine Mayor Mulls Decommissioned Cruise Ship As Floating Hotel For Portland Homeless

PORTLAND, ME. (THECOUNT) — A Portland man believes he may have come up with the solution to help two problems facing the city: the placement of a homeless shelter and a lack of affordable housing.

Ken Capron says wants to buy an old cruise ship and dock it in Portland Harbor, creating a floating hotel for the homeless.

“We’re looking at four populations: the homeless population, the low-income population, the workforce population and immigrant population who all need housing. They all need job skills training. We would offer that on board,” Capron said.

Capron said the cruise ship would have five decks, each with 100 housing units. He admits there are many questions that need to be answered. Most importantly, who get the captain’s cabin?

Portland Mayor Ethan Strimling said he is open to any and all ideas.

“I have no idea if it’s the craziest idea I’ve ever heard, or the most brilliant idea I’ve ever heard, but what I like about it is that he’s coming up with creative ways to figure out how to build housing in the city of Portland,” Strimling said. source

Strimling said there is a need for more than 1,000 housing units in the city.

He plans to present his idea before a city committee on Tuesday.