Expo 86’s iconic ‘McBarge’ capsizes in Fraser River
Posted March 27, 2025 9:15 pm.
Last Updated March 27, 2025 9:21 pm.
The “McBarge” has capsized in the Fraser River.
The vessel, which housed a McDonald’s restaurant during Expo 86 in Vancouver, had been seen floating in the river in Maple Ridge just a few days ago, but nearby business owners say they came in earlier this week to find the old barge on its side.
Despite never being used again after the Expo, the McBarge captured the imaginations of the people of Metro Vancouver for nearly 40 years.
“It’s like a weird pet,” said Michael Kluckner, president of the Vancouver Historical Society.
“I think it’s just the curiosity of it, and then also the brilliance of the name, because ‘the McDonald’s Barge,’ people would go ‘snooze,’ they would have forgotten about it now.”
The vessel has been seen as a bit of a white elephant, floating through Vancouver’s history as it was dragged from place to place. There were many ideas over the years of what to do with the relic, but none of these came to fruition.
Kluckner says it seems the legend of the McBarge will continue, even though it is no longer floating.
“Below water now I think people will be excited to say, ‘What’s going to happen to the thing, how is it going to be cleaned up?” he said.
Transport Canada has been called in to investigate the wreck.
The McBarge was a high-concept McDonald’s restaurant created for the world fair that also gave the city BC Place, Science World, and the SkyTrain Expo Line.
