Padelford Packet Boat Company News

Gus Gaspardo, President of the Padelford Packet Boat Company, was elected Passenger Vessel Association (PVA) President for 2018 at the PVA Annual Convention at MariTrends 2018, held January 28-31 in Savannah, Ga. Gaspardo is President of Padelford Packet Boat Co. Inc., St. Paul, Minn. Founded in 1969 by Capt. William Bowell Sr., Padelford provides a wide variety of public cruises and private events on the Mississippi River with three passenger subchapter K vessels at Harriet Island Regional Park in downtown St. Paul.

The Minnesota Centennial Showboat is returning to the Mississippi River. The Department of Theatre Arts and Dance of the University of Minnesota is announcing plans, pending approval by the Board of Regents, to purchase a historic replica of the nineteenth century floating theaters being built by the Padelford Packet Boat Company of St. Paul. The original showboat, also known as the General John Newton, was acquired and renovated in 1958 during the celebration of Minnesota's first 100 years of statehood. Throughout the next 35 years, more than 400,000 people from all 50 states and 48 nations attended productions by University theatre students-from Shakespearean comedies to vintage melodramas, mysteries, and musicals.

Like most of the tourism business, the excursion/dinner boat market took a big "hit" right after 9/11. Markets that were geared for conventions and depended on fly-in business were especially hard hit since airline bookings went into a steep nosedive right after the terrorist attack and customers could not reach the destinations that offered riverboat entertainment. Most directly impacted by the World Trade Center attack was VIP Yacht Charters, a New York City dining yacht company located a few blocks from the WTC. Minutes after the attack the company immediately began a rescue effort shuttling 40,000-50,000 people across the river to New Jersey and opened their commissary to rescue workers feeding hundreds of workers at no charge.