Google’s Retail Barge Dreams Dashed

Google (Mountain View, Calif.) may be finished with its floating showrooms. A local paper in Portland, Maine, reported that the search engine giant had sold its barge project on the east coast and that the structure will be scrapped, according to CNet.

In 2013, Google had two large barges constructed in secret hangars located in the San Francisco Bay and New London, Conn. Intended to serve as demonstration and play showrooms for VIPs and eventually the public, they would have showcased projects from Google’s lab, Google X, like self-driving cars and Google Glass, reports CNet.

This past February, Google was given an ultimatum by the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission to either move the barge that sat anchored in the San Francisco Bay or pay a $30,000 fine. Google ultimately decided to move the barge out of the BCDC’s jurisdiction. In March, the structure was transported to a town about 80 miles east of San Francisco, where it currently remains docked for $10,000 a month, according to CNet.