Local News in Brief : Marina Boats Relocating

About 140 boats and a seaside restaurant are being forced to relocate by the sale and expected demolition of the Procter & Gamble plant in Long Beach harbor.

The Port of Long Beach bought the 57-year-old plant for $23.5 million and plans to tear it down to add badly needed dock space. About 320 workers, down from 420 a year ago, are turning out the last boxes of Tide detergent before the plant closes.

P&G; has ordered the owners of the West 7th Street Marina and the Chowder Barge Restaurant, who lease property, to vacate before by the end of the month, when the plant is scheduled to shut down its production line.

Owners of the restaurant say they have nowhere to go, and boat owners say they fear they will have difficulty finding new boat slips.