THUNDER BAY — Over a decade of hard work by Canadian Lighthouses of Lake Superior is about to pay off.
The federal government is proposing to designate the historic Shaganash lighthouse — 54 km east of Thunder Bay — as a heritage lighthouse and to transfer its ownership to the city-based not-for-profit organization.
The group currently leases the site from the government, but has been trying to get Fisheries and Oceans Canada to divest ownership to the group since 2012.
That transfer is expected to be completed this year.
"This journey has been extremely long. If you can imagine, for 10 years we've been working to acquire this light so that we would be able to develop our plans," managing director Paul Morralee said Monday. "If we do acquire the site we'll look at some ways of elevating it and animating it further for the public."
The site currently has a picnic table, camping areas and a portable toilet, but additional amenities are planned.
Under the Heritage Lighthouse Protection Act, lighthouses must be reasonably maintained, and any alterations must be consistent with national and international standards for conservation.
In 2014, under its lease agreement with the government, the group took over maintenance of what's commonly known as the Shaganash light, so kayakers could visit and and rest while learning about the role it has played for well over 100 years.
The original lighthouse was established on a small island near Shaganash Island in 1910, and rebuilt after a fire in 1922.
It's located 15 kilometres east of the Porphyry Island lighthouse, which is at the mouth of Black Bay.
"It's not a big main light like the ones that help ships move forward. It's more of a little light within what's known as the north channel," Morralee said.
"The north channel is where commercial fishing goes through. Local boaters go through. At one time, loggers would go through. It's kind of like the inside passage, so if you've got a smaller vessel you don't go out into the big water. You go behind the islands" that stretch between the mouth of Black Bay to near the Nipigon straights.
Canadian Lighthouses of Lake Superior was established to develop lighthouse visits for tourism and economic development purposes.
Besides the Shaganash light, it also leases the Porphyry Island lighthouse at the mouth of Black Bay, and the Trowbridge Island lighthouse at the foot of the Sleeping Giant.
The lights at all three sites continue to operate and are maintained by the Canadian Coast Guard.
The organization aims to obtain ownership of the other two sites at some point, but Morralee described the process as "arduous, long-term and convoluted," because government regulations require multiple clearances to be obtained.
He said the government is also dealing with the disposition of over 300 other lighthouses across the country, "so we're looking at a very long path."
Nonetheless, the local group has already made progress in developing Lake Superior lighthouses as a visitor attraction
"We've got three different programs — artist in residence, hostkeeper program and the Canada Summer Jobs program," Morralee said. "We've got tours [twice a week] through Archie's Charters and we have events. Many community groups come through, such as diving clubs, sailing clubs, anglers and such."
Last year there were 1,000 visitors at Porphyry, half of whom were tourists.
