13 Island lighthouses in line for heritage designation

There are 13 lighthouses about to be designated as Heritage Places by the P.E.I. government.

The Canadian Coast Guard declared the lighthouses surplus in 2010.

Some of these lighthouses are in the process of having ownership transferred from the federal government to various community groups and municipalities.

The Heritage Place designation means owners of the lighthouses will have a legal obligation to protect the integrity of the structures.

"They do have to maintain a certain level of heritage character regarding the look of the building, the way it's used — those sorts of things — more the appearance, the historic appearance. It's very important," said Carol Livingstone, president of the P.E.I. Lighthouse Society.

Livingstone says she's pleased with the list overall.

"They have for the most part, done some of the bigger or more significant ones and there are other smaller ones like range lights that are not on this list," Livingstone said.

"I would say they took some of the older or more historically significant ones and did those and then we'll get on to others after that."

Some of the lighthouses on the designated list are Leard's Front Range Lighthouse, East Point Lighthouse and Fog Alarm Building, Point Prim and Wood Islands lighthouses.