Google Mystery Barge Ordered To Move Out Of San Francisco Bay
Google has been building a secretive barge/showroom/interactive/art installation out of what amounts to giant LEGOs in San Francisco Bay for months, but the company has reportedly been told to move it or lose it. The issue at hand is that Google did not acquire the right permits for the work its been doing.
Larry Goldzband of the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission told the AP that nobody filed any permits for construction at the barge’s location, and the Treasure Island Development Authority, which has leased the space to Google for $79,000 per month, could face fines and other “enforcement proceedings”.
Artist rendering (Credit: By and Large LLC via SFGate)
It’s reportedly unlikely that a construction permit would be issued for the location the barge is currently in, but Google could resume work with permits at a construction facility in the Bay. Worse, there’s reportedly no construction happening at present because, according to Goldzband, Google told him that the U.S. Coast Guard has to ensure that the barge meets certain standards.
The mystery barge project is in a quagmire for now, and it’s not out of the question that this thing could become one of those great oddities of tech lore, a partially-completed floating turd in the San Francisco bay punchbowl, a monument to the failure of a mighty company to cut through red tape.
Larry Goldzband of the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission told the AP that nobody filed any permits for construction at the barge’s location, and the Treasure Island Development Authority, which has leased the space to Google for $79,000 per month, could face fines and other “enforcement proceedings”.
Artist rendering (Credit: By and Large LLC via SFGate)
It’s reportedly unlikely that a construction permit would be issued for the location the barge is currently in, but Google could resume work with permits at a construction facility in the Bay. Worse, there’s reportedly no construction happening at present because, according to Goldzband, Google told him that the U.S. Coast Guard has to ensure that the barge meets certain standards.
The mystery barge project is in a quagmire for now, and it’s not out of the question that this thing could become one of those great oddities of tech lore, a partially-completed floating turd in the San Francisco bay punchbowl, a monument to the failure of a mighty company to cut through red tape.
