Posted with full permission from the Hamilton Spectator.
SPECIAL TO THE HAMILTON SPECTATOR
October 06, 2007
Stories by Dana Brown
The Hamilton Spectator
(Oct 6, 2007)
A city committee has given the thumbs up to helping revitalize Hamilton's old lighthouse.
At a meeting this week, members of the emergency and community services committee endorsed a staff recommendation to hand over up to $50,000 to the Beach Canal Lighthouse Group, a local community group involved in trying to preserve the structure and the nearby lightkeeper's cottage.
"The fact that there was even no discussion, I think, was a very positive thing," said David Auger, the lighthouse group's executive director. "It says to me it's obvious that this should go forward," he said, adding that he hoped he was reading the committee's quick endorsement of the recommendation correctly.
Council will now vote Wednesday on whether or not to approve the funding.
If the green light is given, the lighthouse group will use the money to come up with an operational plan for the Burlington Canal Light Station, as well as assess the state of the buildings and cost of renovations. Once complete, the group will come back and share the plan with the committee.
The lighthouse, which still stands on its original site, and the lighthouse keeper's dwelling are the oldest structures on Hamilton Beach. In 1996, the pair were designated by council as heritage properties, but the buildings and the land belong to the federal government.
Auger said an understanding has been worked out with the federal government to potentially transfer ownership to the city.
"Lighthouses are a very special kind of building and I think everybody ... intuitively recognizes that," Auger said.
The group would like to have the lighthouse restored by its 150th anniversary in October of next year, so visitors can climb the inside of the tower.
Peter Coletti was the last lightkeeper to be stationed at the canal. For 23 years he went out and checked equipment three or four times a day. When needed, he would take up a paintbrush and get to work. Coletti made sure the lights to guide ships into the harbour were burning bright and he lived in the nearby lightkeeper's cottage, which by that time was more than a century old. After Coletti's Hamilton job finished, he worked at a couple of postings along Lake Erie and eventually moved out east. Now 74 and retired, Coletti has made a home for himself in New Brunswick. Despite the mounds of new technology available to sailors, Coletti said when it comes down to it, those at sea still want to see that familiar old-fashioned light guiding them along. "You talk to the guys that are sailing and they still welcome the sight of that lighthouse." * The first lighthouse, a wooden one, was built on the canal in 1838. * A fire burned down the lighthouse and the lightkeeper's and ferryman's dwellings in 1856 * The dwellings were replaced by brick structures in 1857. * The first occupant of the new lightkeeper's cottage was George Thompson, Hamilton's lighthouse keeper at the time. * The current lighthouse, built of stone, was completed in 1858. * It stands 55-feet tall and has 79 steps. * The lighthouse was decommissioned in 1961, possibly because of the construction of the Lift Bridge, which obstructed the view.
dbrown@thespec.com
905-526-4629
SPECIAL TO THE HAMILTON SPECTATOR
October 06, 2007
Stories by Dana Brown
The Hamilton Spectator
(Oct 6, 2007)
A city committee has given the thumbs up to helping revitalize Hamilton's old lighthouse.
At a meeting this week, members of the emergency and community services committee endorsed a staff recommendation to hand over up to $50,000 to the Beach Canal Lighthouse Group, a local community group involved in trying to preserve the structure and the nearby lightkeeper's cottage.
"The fact that there was even no discussion, I think, was a very positive thing," said David Auger, the lighthouse group's executive director. "It says to me it's obvious that this should go forward," he said, adding that he hoped he was reading the committee's quick endorsement of the recommendation correctly.
Council will now vote Wednesday on whether or not to approve the funding.
If the green light is given, the lighthouse group will use the money to come up with an operational plan for the Burlington Canal Light Station, as well as assess the state of the buildings and cost of renovations. Once complete, the group will come back and share the plan with the committee.
The lighthouse, which still stands on its original site, and the lighthouse keeper's dwelling are the oldest structures on Hamilton Beach. In 1996, the pair were designated by council as heritage properties, but the buildings and the land belong to the federal government.
Auger said an understanding has been worked out with the federal government to potentially transfer ownership to the city.
"Lighthouses are a very special kind of building and I think everybody ... intuitively recognizes that," Auger said.
The group would like to have the lighthouse restored by its 150th anniversary in October of next year, so visitors can climb the inside of the tower.
Peter Coletti was the last lightkeeper to be stationed at the canal. For 23 years he went out and checked equipment three or four times a day. When needed, he would take up a paintbrush and get to work. Coletti made sure the lights to guide ships into the harbour were burning bright and he lived in the nearby lightkeeper's cottage, which by that time was more than a century old. After Coletti's Hamilton job finished, he worked at a couple of postings along Lake Erie and eventually moved out east. Now 74 and retired, Coletti has made a home for himself in New Brunswick. Despite the mounds of new technology available to sailors, Coletti said when it comes down to it, those at sea still want to see that familiar old-fashioned light guiding them along. "You talk to the guys that are sailing and they still welcome the sight of that lighthouse." * The first lighthouse, a wooden one, was built on the canal in 1838. * A fire burned down the lighthouse and the lightkeeper's and ferryman's dwellings in 1856 * The dwellings were replaced by brick structures in 1857. * The first occupant of the new lightkeeper's cottage was George Thompson, Hamilton's lighthouse keeper at the time. * The current lighthouse, built of stone, was completed in 1858. * It stands 55-feet tall and has 79 steps. * The lighthouse was decommissioned in 1961, possibly because of the construction of the Lift Bridge, which obstructed the view.
dbrown@thespec.com
905-526-4629