Community group calls on heritage minister to help save remote 200-year-old lighthouse
CBC
A community group is calling on the federal heritage minister to help save the 200-year-old Seal Island lighthouse that the Canadian Coast Guard and Fisheries and Oceans Canada say is too expensive to maintain.
The lighthouse is located on a remote island about 30 kilometres off southwest Nova Scotia.
The oldest wooden lighthouse in Nova Scotia and the second oldest in Canada, it was constructed in 1831 by local families in response to numerous shipwrecks in the area.
It was given heritage status by the Federal Heritage Buildings Review Office in 2009.
Mary McLaren, a board member of the grassroots Seal Island Lighthouse Preservation Society, says the structure is in good shape overall but it needs repairs.
She said the coast guard, which has primary responsibility for the structure, has not adequately maintained it.
McLaren said the wooden shingles, which haven't been painted in years, are deteriorating and a badly installed window has caused some rotting in the interior.
An emailed joint response from DFO and the Canadian Coast Guard to CBC News, said the lighthouse requires extensive structural repairs.
According to the email, a decision was made to erect a steel tower next to the existing lighthouse to serve as a navigational aid because of lower maintenance costs and for the health and safety of coast guard maintenance employees.
"A decision has not been made regarding the disposal of the lighthouse structure once the new steel tower will be built," the email said.
The society wrote to heritage minister Pascale St-Onge on Friday asking for her support to ensure that the lighthouse is repaired to the standards outlined in the Heritage Lighthouse Protection Act.
"We are deeply concerned that DFO and Coast Guard is intentionally allowing this historic structure to undergo 'demolition by neglect,' and disregarding their responsibility as outlined in the Heritage Act," the letter said.
McLaren said the society is willing to consider taking over the building but wants the coast guard to fix the building first.
She said despite being classified as a federal heritage building, DFO and the coast guard have not taken the classification seriously.
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