Crumbling Lighthouse One of Seven Wonders
By Sue Clark on Jul 20, 2007 in Threatened 
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Almost two weeks ago, I posted a little blurb about Point Abino Lighthouse leading the pack in the “race” for one of the Seven Wonders of Fort Erie, Ontario, CA. The Niagara Falls Review is running a little competition, for nominating and voting for those seven wonders, along with a similar competition for Niagara Falls. Since that intrigued me. I decided to learn a bit more about Point Abino Lighthouse.
The lighthouse, listed on the Nova Scotia Lighthouse Preservation Society as one of the most endangered lighthouses in Canada, is a beautiful concrete Greek Revival tower built in 1917. It replaced US Lightship 82, out of Buffalo, which sank (killing all six crewmen) during the Great Storm of November 1913, which claimed nineteen ships and more than 250 lives.
When Point Abino was decommissioned in 1995, it was put up for sale. The town ultimately purchased the land, but has no access. The point is locked out to Canadians by wealthy Americans who keep the one road gated, and do not allow the public access. Each year, to run limited tours out to the light, Fort Erie has to negotiate a contract with the American summer residents to allow eight trips to the lighthouse via trolley. Those dates this year, with four trips on each date, are:
- June 9 & 23
- July 14 & 28
- August 11 & 25
- September 8 & 22
The Niagara Falls Review further notes that lighthouse advocates have recently approached the town council seeking funding. The lighthouse needs major structural repairs, and when the town purchased it four years ago, costs were estimated to be almost half a million Canadian dollars. The mayor states the town has saved nearly $140,000 CDN and he has approached the heritage ministers of the provincial and federal governments and asked them to contribute $200,000 each toward the restoration of the lighthouse. However, Kim Craitor, Niagara Falls Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP), said the municipality needs to address the lack of free and unencumbered access to the site before he would push the issue of funding with his colleagues.
“It would be difficult for me to convince the provincial government to enter into a financial partnership with the town and the federal government when there is still limited access to that historic site,” he said. “Once that issue is resolved, then restoration would be a viable option to take.”
In the meantime, the lighthouse, although it may be the top vote getter in the “competition,” crumbles more and more every day.
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