Helicopter swoops in to help save Grand Manan's Swallowtail Lighthouse
Lighthouse has been deteriorating for years. This week, construction finally began
Standing on the peninsula near the northeastern tip of Grand Manan Island, a 163-year-old lighthouse has been crumbling for decades.
For years, the white and crimson Swallowtail Lighthouse has been battered by water and nasty storms — leading to a collapsing plaster ceiling and some of its 90-year-old shingles blowing away in the wind.
In February, head lighthouse keeper Ken Ingersoll said the building was a only a year away from irreversible damage.
Last week, construction finally started, with a little help from an unexpected source.
The Canadian Coast Guard stepped in and offered to provide a helicopter and crew to transport the materials needed. Fundy Contractors has been hired to carry out the repairs onsite.
66 loads and counting
Ingersoll said the coast guard brought 66 loads of supplies to the island last Friday, with more trips to come in the following weeks.
The only alternative to the helicopter would have been to bring in everything by boat, which would take long and be at the mercy of the tides.
"Words can't express the thanks I could give those guys," Ingersoll added.
Jan Lockhart, a volunteer with Swallowtail Keepers Society, said that after a month of waiting for construction to start, just watching the helicopter drop off supplies was enthralling.
"The accuracy of how he can take these small loads and place them so gently and carefully into a very specific spot and do it so well and then take off, it's just amazing skill," she said.
Ingersoll says he went door-to-door to warn residents before the load was choppered in because of the noise and disruption of the helicopter and the swinging load of materials it carried.
"They were a little taken aback," he said.
One resident had to bring her plants indoors because the rotor wash from the helicopter was flattening them, he said.
Yet, nobody complained, Ingersoll said. One woman even baked muffins and brewed tea for the workers.
"Everyone wants to see Swallowtail fixed," he said. "It's just not an issue."
Fundraising to save the lighthouse began in August of last year, and Ingersoll said that donations began streaming in shortly after.
A telethon on CHCO-TV, a community television station, raised $55,000. Both the provincial and the federal government each pitched in $85,000, he added.
The final cost of repairs is hefty, though. Once they began stripping the lighthouse, Ingersoll said they discovered more rot — bringing the total cost to $508,000.
Only $30,000 more is needed, and Ingersoll is confident that they'll receive the funding.
"Everyone loves Swallowtail," he said. "It's our gem."
The Swallowtail Lighthouse was first built in 1859, but it wasn't officially lit until 1860 because the cupola was late to arrive. Not long after, according to the lighthouse's website, Swallowtail was damaged after northeast gales struck the peninsula.
Anneke Gichuru, former director and curator at the Grand Manan Museum, said there's a lot of history wrapped up in Swallowtail.
"There are many stories of people who survived because they were able to use the Swallowtail as the navigational point," she said.
"There's also a story of a fire that destroyed part of the building, and a woman lost her life going in that saved her child. So there's some quite traumatic events about the lighthouse itself."
Perfect preservation of an historic site isn't always possible.
Before construction began, Ingersoll said the coast guard suggested an alternative plan for reconstruction involving a more durable nylon material, rather than using the cedar shingle that once covered the tower.
Although he was on board, he worried there might be backlash for changing the material.
"I understand the romance of the cedar shingle and the lighthouse keeper with a pipe in his teeth," he said. "It's modern material — we're changing."
But Ingersoll is confident that people will be happy with the final product. "It's absolutely gorgeous," he said. "It won't rot. When it's done it looks just like cedar shingle, and you don't have to paint it."
Affection for the lighthouse seems to grow stronger with time. Ingersoll said that when he and his wife began looking after Swallowtail in 2008, a couple of thousand people visited. Now, roughly 22,000 to 26,000 people who come out annually, he said.
He said the lighthouse repairs should be finished by mid-September.
"I think it is a very beloved icon," said Gichuru. For people visiting, "their arrival on Grand Manan really begins with seeing Swallowtail."
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