Long Beach entertainment complex next to Queen Mary detailed in new renderings

Urban Commons, the company that operates Long Beach’s Queen Mary, offered a little more insight last week into plans to convert 65 acres of waterfront alongside the ship into a massive entertainment complex called Queen Mary Island.

On the Queen Mary’s official Facebook page, the company revealed a new rendering of the entire project, as well as up-close looks at a 150,000-square-foot recreational center that will be “the heart” of the new development.

Urban Commons writes that the new facility will be called Urban Adventures and that the wild, wavy-looking building, depicted in renderings by architecture firm Benoy, will host a wide range of interactive sporting attractions, including a ropes course, ice climbing, a “Ninja Warrior training ground,” a pair of rooftop surfing pavilions, and a “zip line roller coaster.”

All told, the facility will offer 22 different activities for visitors to try.

Urban Commons took over the Queen Mary’s lease last year and also plans to renovate the historic vessel, updating its 346 guest rooms and giving its public spaces a preservation-minded overhaul.

The developer may have its hands full; an alarming marine survey published earlier this year found the historic vessel was in need of urgent repairs that will cost more than $235 million over the next five years (only a little less than the $250 million that Urban Commons plans to spend on the Queen Mary Island project).

As part of its lease agreement with Urban Commons, the city of Long Beach, which has owned the ship since 1967, agreed to pitch in $23 million for some of those repairs, but it’s not clear where the rest of the money will come from.

Queen Mary Island is still in the planning stages and will need key approvals from both the city of Long Beach and the California Coastal Commission before moving forward, but Urban Commons says construction could start within two years.

• First look at Queen Mary Island, the proposed $250M attraction at Long Beach’s troubled ship [Curbed LA]
• Huge Entertainment District to Surround Queen Mary in Long Beach [Curbed LA]
• The Queen Mary is deteriorating to the point that it could sink [Curbed LA]