Walgreen News

Burger Boat, Manitowoc, Wisc. has been in business since 1863, building a variety of commercial vessels and military vessels over the past 141 years. They have also built a sterling reputation in the construction of 80-95-foot luxury yachts. Today Burger Boats is building bigger yachts and recently completed a new 36,000 square foot state-of-the-art manufacturing facility with two 210-foot by 100-foot building bays. The new building has 70-foot high ceiling, a heated concrete floor, overhead cranes and a mezzanine area that is level with the main deck of their yachts. Workers can literally walk onto the vessel with their tools and materials without walking up and down ladders to reach the main deck of the vessel.

For many years the fortunes of the Great Lakes-based shipbuilders and naval architects was based solidly on the building level of the owners who were also based on the 94,000 sq. mi. of water that makes up the five Great Lakes. That is no longer as true a statement as it once was. While there are many projects in this area designed and build by Great Lakes firms for owners in the area, an impressive number of significant commercial market projects as varied as Staten Island, New York ferries and Gulf of Mexico crew/supply boats were designed and or built on the Great Lakes. The Kennedy Class of double ended auto/passenger ferries is one of the most recognizable images of New York City. Every weeknight millions of people see one during the opening of the David Letterman Show.

Burger Boat Company, whose roots extend back to when Abraham Lincoln was President, is set to launch three megayachts during the second half of 2003. The company builds aluminum motor yachts in the 82 to 165 ft. range at prices from $5 million and up. The largest motor yacht yet built by Burger is set for a June 14 launch. Called the Sis W, the vessel is owned by Charles R. Walgreen Jr., the 95-year old owner of the Walgreen Drug Store chain. At 95, Mr. Walgreen, has purchased his fourth Burger yacht and plans to cruise extensively in his new yacht, just the prescription for a man with his zest for living. In later summer, Burger will deliver the Top Times, a 112-ft. full displacement yacht of the expedition design, built for worldwide cruising.