As you get older, there are defining moments in your life. Moments when you realize that your childhood is truly gone. That moment has been sitting in a field off of US 23 since 2014.
The Santa Maria was a Columbus icon throughout my childhood. It sat, docked on the Scioto River, serving as everyone’s favorite field trip destination for years.
The ship stopped taking visitors years before it left the water, and the city pulled it out of the Scioto River in August 2014 to make room for the Scioto Mile riverbank work. The Santa Maria has been sitting on city property ever since, in several pieces, and in disrepair.
Plenty of Columbusites would like to see the Santa Maria back on the water. The money has never shown up.
In February 2017, Better Call Jackson of NBC4 went in search of answers about the Santa Maria. NBC reported that the estimated cost of rebuilding the Santa Maria is between five and six million dollars.
What has happened since
Nothing, as far as the public record shows. The 2017 NBC4 story floated one other ending: a one-eighth scale model built from the salvaged wood. That never happened either.
In October 2021, Axios Columbus asked the city about the ship. Kerry Francis, a spokesperson for Columbus Recreation and Parks, said the department had no relocation or sale plans, then added: “We’d be open to exploring any reasonable requests. We understand it would likely be cost-prohibitive due to its condition, therefore we don’t anticipate much interest.” No newer city statement has surfaced since.
The lot is city property and isn’t open to visitors, so there’s no way to go see the pieces. The photo of the pieces above came from a Reddit user who spotted them from the road.
A short history of the Santa Maria
1991: Scarano Boat Building in Albany, New York builds the 98-foot replica as a static museum ship, never meant to carry passengers. It opens on the Scioto on October 12, 1991, ahead of the 500th anniversary of the 1492 voyage. The Associated Press put the cost at about $2 million, paid with donations and private money.
2014: Columbus City Council puts up $500,000 to pull the ship out of the river so the Scioto Mile riverbank work can go ahead. The nonprofit behind the ship needs about $1 million in repairs it doesn’t have, and the ship comes out in August.
2017: NBC4 finds it stored on city property in several pieces. A city spokesperson, Brian Hoyt, says the city occasionally hears from groups interested in raising money for it. Rebuild estimate: $5 million to $6 million.
2021: Axios Columbus reports the ship is still in city storage with no relocation or sale plans.
