THUNDER BAY - One of the leading volunteers who helped restore the James Whalen Tugboat and return it to its historic steam-powered roots said the city should look to preserving symbols of the past rather than scrapping them.
“It is going to be heartbreaking for a lot of people,” said Clive Dudley, former president of the James Whalen Restoration Project. “It is a symbol. You can’t throw these things away. You can’t replace them.”
The James Whalen is currently sitting on the shore of the Kaminisitqua River near the James Street Swing Bridge after sinking next to the dock at the Kam River Heritage Park in May 2022.
It was raised and transported down river at a cost of nearly $800,000 to the city.
In September, Thunder Bay City Council voted in favour of recycling the historic vessel, while preserving some pieces, such as the top deck, for display.
The James Whalen was built in 1905 for the Canadian Towing and Wrecking Company of Port Arthur. Throughout its life, the James Whalen would have several different owners, and eventually ended up in Quebec in the 1960s where it was converted from steam to diesel power.
Verreault Navigation Ltd. of Les Mechins, Quebec purchased the James Whalen in 1977 and it was renamed Denise V. after the daughter of the company owner.
The vessel was retired from service and in 1992 the city of Thunder Bay acquired it and returned it to the Kaministiqua River for restoration.
“It was a huge project, there were a lot of volunteers, a lot of time spent, different things most people never get involved in and have no clue,” Dudley said. “When it comes to marine ships and the construction and regulations, it was never ending. It was a good learning experience.”
The James Whalen was fully restored to resemble its steam powered origins in 1998 and was docked at the Kam River Heritage Park where it served as a highlight of River Fest, drawing in thousands of visitors.
But throughout the years it was also subject to vandalism, break-ins, and deterioration.
“We had a couple problems over the years like vandalism, which was an ongoing thing,” Dudley said. “Then we had a couple break ins and the last break in was when the final River Fest was scheduled to take place. Some people actually moved in and made a mess of it. That was just sort of the end of it.”
A hole in the bow, which Dudley suspects was most likely the result of ice damage, eventually led to the James Whalen taking on more water than the pumps could handle and it sunk next to the dock at the park.
“It brought tears to my eyes,” Dudley said. “Everyone else who were all involved in it and people who are no longer around, I was kind of glad they didn’t see it because they would be disappointed too. But these things happen. We didn’t do anything wrong, it was just things in water have to be looked after.”
Dudley said he would have liked to see the city be more proactive when the tug was first raised by selecting a spot on shore at the Kam River Heritage Park to be a new permanent home for the James Whalen.
He added that the family of James Whalen’s former owners in Quebec would be upset to see it recycled or scrapped because the original offer of returning it to the city involved restoring the vessel.
“To scrap it, it defeats the whole purpose,” Dudley said. “It would be like raising the Arizona in Pearl Harbour and taking it somewhere and then just taking a turret and putting it somewhere and that’s it. The symbol is not there when there are only scraps or pieces. The whole thing is heritage, a symbol. Not just a piece.”
Dudley hopes city council will reconsider its decision and place the James Whalen, intact, in a secure location where a new group of volunteers can continue to preserve it for generations to come.
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