Beacon

Council inclined not to assign heritage designation to Salmon Point Lighthouse

PHOTO: MARC SEGUIN

Thursday’s Committee of the whole meeting saw all members in attendance vote against a motion originating from the Prince Edward Heritage Advisory Committee (PEHAC) to designate the Salmon Point lighthouse as a ‘Property of cultural heritage under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act’.

The Salmon Point lighthouse, which was constructed in 1871, is one of the last remaining traditional lighthouses in the County. The lighthouse is identified on the Prince Edward County Heritage Inventory list.

It has been the practice of council to only designate properties under the Ontario Heritage Act if the owner consents. However, in this case, staff felt that it was appropriate to pursue the designation without the owner’s consent as multiple attempts have been made to contact the owner and it is in the publics interest to protect one of the last remaining lighthouses in the County.

Marc Seguin, founding member of the heritage organization Save Our Lighthouses, and author of For Want of a Lighthouse: Building the Lighthouses of Eastern Lake Ontario 1828-1914, submitted a statement of heritage value for the Salmon Point Lighthouse in May on behalf of the PEHAC.

Seguin appeared before Committee of the Whole at the end of May, to explain his position on the lighthouse. “The Salmon Point lighthouse is of such importance to our community, that it deserves to be protected by a heritage designation, with or without the owners’ consent,” said Seguin.

In July, after five years of attempting to formally contact the property owner by letter, Nicholas Karakas, Secretary of 1859637 Ontario Limited, sent a reply to the PEHAC requesting the motion be withdrawn or defeated at the committee level.

“Owners of the Property have gone to extreme lengths to save the lighthouse many times over including undertaking the necessary steps for rock replacement and concrete under-pinnings that prevented it from simply washing away and attempting to lessen the constant attacks by trespassers and vandals who have reduced it to a boarded-up shell,” says Karakas.

Karakas also noted that many of the structural attributes were ruined long ago as a result of repeated acts of vandalism, dry rot, insect infestation and weathering.

On Thursday, the issue of the lighthouse came before Committee of the Whole. Councillor Jamie Forrester recalled past councils, and how they treated heritage designations. “I understand the lighthouse is a significant building, but I remember sitting on the last council and we said we would never force this on a landowner if they did not want to have this in place, said Forrester.

The talk around the horseshoe was in agreeance with Forresters sentiment. Councillor Gord Fox felt it was not right to put the costs onto the back of the owner.

“I really struggle with this, but it seems to me that if we designate that, then does that mean that the people who own the property then have to bring it up to some sort of standard? I understand the building is in disrepair and according to this report it’s going to cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to bring this back and I dont feel comfortable saying to the persons who own this property that we are demanding that you spend that money,” said Fox.

Councillor Steve Ferguson, who sits on the Heritage Advisory Committee, was worried about legal costs if the municipality forces the designation. “Being a member of the Heritage Advisory Committee, this is a long standing issue about the lighthouse and its future.

I was afforded an opportunity to look at the property and understand what they are doing. The important thing to me is that we not make decisions to force people to do something that they may object to. This could bring on the encouragement of legal costs.”

The committee unanimously opposed the motion. The final decision is to come forward at the next council meeting.