Two County lighthouses to be saved

Scotch Bonnet Lighthouse 1856

Just prior to the expiry of the Heritage Lighthouse Protection Act, the county heritage advocacy group, Save Our Lighthouses, was informed the Scotch Bonnet Island and Prince Edward Point lighthouses would be preserved by the Government of Canada.

Daryl Kramp, MP for Prince Edward–Hastings, delivered the long-awaited news to Marc Seguin, Executive Director of Save Our Lighthouses.

Prince Edward Point (Pt-Traverse) Lighthouse

“This is great news for Prince Edward County and for all of Canada,” Seguin, author of the recently published book ‘For Want of a Lighthouse’ said. “In our area alone there was once a remarkable network of more than 40 lighthouses.  Today, only nine of those historic towers remain and this is a good first step towards preserving these important pieces of our national heritage.”

According to an announcement made last week by the minister responsible for Parks Canada, Leona Aglukak, the two County lighthouses were part of a total of 74 lighthouses designated across the country.

When asked to provide the complete list of the 74 designated lighthouses, Parks Canada’s heritage lighthouse program manager, Norman Shields, was unwilling to do so stating “The Minister’s office wants to control the release of the list. They will roll out the list slowly.”

Sequin’s new book traces the historical significance of Canadian lighthouse heritage, coinciding with the federal government’s decision on lighthouse preservation.

‘For Want of a Lighthouse’ was written to celebrate this majestic era of 19th century marine navigation on the Great Lakes and to aid in the preservation of existing lighthouses on eastern Lake Ontario and across the country.

“I hope readers will gain a better appreciation of the importance of lighthouses to our early travel and commerce.  With the government’s Heritage Lighthouse Protection Act announcement on May 29, there is a greater need to understand which lighthouses will be protected under the Act,” said Seguin. “By understanding what we may be losing, I hope more people will join the fight to save those structures which are at risk of being demolished or abandoned.”

The Heritage Lighthouse Protection Act came into force in 2010.  The following year, on the recommendation of the Prince Edward Heritage Advisory Committee, Prince Edward County Council sponsored the nomination of five area lighthouses for designation under the Act.

The lighthouses at Scotch Bonnet Island, owned by the Canadian Wildlife Service, and Prince Edward Point (known locally as the Point Traverse lighthouse) owned by Parks Canada, were included in this group.

The other three lighthouses, False Ducks Island, Point Petre, and Main Duck Island, which are owned by Fisheries and Oceans Canada and which had been declared surplus to government requirements, are in the process of being acquired by the Hastings Prince Edward Land Trust. If these lighthouses are transferred to the Land Trust, they too will be given federal heritage status.

The heritage designation of the two County lighthouses means that they will be maintained and conserved by the federal government.  The government’s Guidelines for the Conservation of Historic Places in Canada will be used as the basis for planned preservation work.

Jeff Robinson at the Canadian Wildlife Service was contacted about the Scotch Bonnet Island lighthouse, as was Jeff Leggo at the Thousand Islands National Park concerning the Prince Edward Point lighthouse.

They were asked when the conservation process would be started.  However, neither of these government employees had been informed that lighthouses in their jurisdiction had be designated, so they were unable to comment on the subject.

 Seguin leads bid to save beacons of hope and safe harbour