Ask Rich Burkholder to describe the New Carissa’s upcoming demolition. His answer will sound like a carnival barker’s pitch.

“They are going to be able to see an engineering feat. They’re going to be dealing with Mother Nature and the danger that could be in the waves,” said Burkholder, owner of Spinreel Dune Buggy & ATV. “They are going to be able see something that normally isn’t seen in the United States, because we don’t normally have shipwrecks nowadays.

“This is like watching the Discovery Channel. Only it’s live.”

For tourists and locals hoping to see the ship while it’s dismantled, Burkholder is the man to seek. His company, based in North Bend, will offer hourly tours to the North Spit for the project. Carissa tours are tentatively set to begin on Memorial Day weekend.

“It is a very big part of Coos Bay history. It’s not going to be here anymore, and it’s important for people to see it while it’s here,” he said.

Burkholder expects the project to be a boon for local businesses as tourists flock to the area for a glimpse of the ship’s broken hull protruding from the waves. In fact, he hopes to get about as much visitor traffic as Spinreel did following the rediscovery of the George L. Olson shipwreck on the North Spit in February.

Then, Spinreel ran almost two full truckloads of tourists every hour, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. In all, about 500 people took tours to both wrecks — 10 times the company’s normal February traffic.

“It was fabulous. It helped us out in the off season. We’re normally slow that time of year.”

Katherine Hoppe, the director of promotions and conventions for the Coos Bay-North Bend Visitor and Convention Bureau, also has high expectations. She views the removal as an elaborate process that most people likely won’t see again.

“We know over 5,000 people came to see the mystery ship within a month’s period,” Hoppe said.

She believes the region will see similar numbers of tourists as Titan Maritime dismantles the New Carissa. This summer will feature lots of tourism draws, “but this is one of the bigger ones.”

Since running aground in 1999, the ship has become a tourism fixture.

“We have a rich shipwreck history. It’s one of many attractions that make our area unique, so we are sad to see it go,” Hoppe said.  “When it first wrecked, there was a big spike in tourism that year.”

That month, February 1999, the number of visitors to the Coos Bay Visitors Center increased by 50 percent over the prior year, and there was a 40 percent increase in transient room taxes, Hoppe said.

Since the shipwreck removal project was announced, she said, she’s received calls from visitors and the public asking how to get to the ship and the best places to view it. And the bureau is working with travel writers and tourism agencies to promote the dismantling. It also is providing New Carissa information on its Web site, http://www.Oregonsadventurecoast.com. Additionally, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and Department of State Lands are providing maps to the site at visitors centers.

“As you see the plans, it’s amazing what Titan is doing. ... It’s going to be a once-in-a-lifetime thing to watch,” Hoppe said.

Some people fear the New Carissa’s removal will equate to a long-term tourism loss for the community. Hoppe said not exactly.   

“I think there will be some loss. But I think other factors will make up for it.”

Either way, Hoppe said, people should go see the ship while they can. Those who do should consider walking if they aren’t used to driving in the sand or don’t have the right kind of vehicle.

“We just encourage people to keep safe and definitely take advantage of this,” Hoppe said.

Those who go on a Spinreel tour will board a safari-style truck at a gravel lot near the BLM boat ramps on the North Spit. Each 10-passenger truck will take off via a bypass road and will head to the work site. The tour will continue to the beach so visitors can watch cable cars run from the work site to barges where work crews will dissect the wreck. Burkholder said guests will be allowed to walk on the beach — away from snowy plover nesting sites — before returning to the parking lot.

The bypass road is open to the public if people wish to drive themselves, but it is highly recommended they use vehicles with four-wheel drive. They also need Off Highway Vehicle stickers and orange flags.

“People can get stuck out there. The sand is very soft on the road,” Burkholder said.

Megan Harper, a BLM public affairs specialist, said Spinreel is the only company that has applied for a special recreation use permit through BLM to offer tours. However, some local ATV dealers are selling permits to visitors who’d rather go on their own.

Not everyone is pleased with the New Carissa’s removal.

For more than a year, Sen. Joanne Verger, D-Coos Bay, campaigned to have the wreckage stay.

“People are very interested in shipwrecks,” she said.

But with the project going ahead, Verger said she wants something done to preserve the saga of the New Carissa. That could mean installing a marker detailing its story from its landing to its removal. That is, if the salvage project is successful.

“I feel that it will probably go as well as can be expected,” Verger said. “If the New Carissa maintains her personality, she’ll be hard to pull out. She has quite a mind of her own.”

Verger said she is no longer fighting the removal, though she believes in the ship’s continued value to the economy. Nor is she hoping for another shipwreck.

“We do not want ships landing on the beach to develop our economy. That’s not exactly what we have in mind.”