The old factory in Benton
 

Hello! New to the site, but I was boating on Rend Lake this past weekend and ventured through Benton, IL on my way home. Ended up driving right past the old factory. Sad to see.

I remember going to school back in the mid-90s at SIU and going past the factory on the interstate. I could see those boats in the distance and always desired to have a Mariah some day. Couldn't afford them back in those college days, but I sure wanted one.

Over the years I kept a casual eye on Mariah and knew they had gone out of business but had no idea it was resurrected by another builder. In my heart, Mariahs will always be from Benton.

The dealer in my town was a Mariah dealer as I am only about 70 miles from Benton. Still se a large number of them floating around and still commanding very good resale prices.

I never did buy a Mariah. Family needs pointed me to a pontoon. I bet I could pick up a second boat however lol.

Think there are any treasures in that old building??

Re: The old factory in Benton
 

GO LOOK !!!
Tell them Firestone sent you !

Re: The old factory in Benton
 

The building was bought and used by Godfrey Marine and Bombardier Recreational Products over the years. Sadly, I think any treasures are long gone....

However, the molds are still out there. Sea Fox owned the 18-25's and made them for years, but finally discontinued the Mariah line and sold them to a Canadian manufacturer. The larger 25-30ft molds were owned by Challenger Powerboats and those have apparently been sold as well. I found an online ad for the Z268 cruiser molds for sale in the Miami area a few years ago. Maybe someday we'll see them in production again, but sadly they'll never be built like they used to at that factory in Benton.