Lights out for several P.E.I. lighthouses

Islanders have spoken up for 33 lighthouses in P.E.I. hoping to have them designated as heritage sites. Now the others are up for grabs.

The Canadian Coast Guard declared the lighthouses surplus 2010 and people had until this May 29 to nominate a lighthouse under the Heritage Lighthouse Project.

One of the sites that didn’t make the cut was the Georgetown rear range light.

"We have a lot of different priorities and we didn’t feel like that would be one," said Georgetown Mayor Lewis Lavandier.

He says they couldn’t justify spending money on the it. But he has fond memories of growing up near it.

"When I was young I used to remember when we’d be coming in, I would go out with one of our neighours there fishing and that, and you would see the lighthouse and you’d see it at night and it was night, brings back memories."

A petition has been filed to save the nearby light in Lower Montague. It's one of  33 lighthouses that have been nominated but they are not guaranteed protection. This is just the beginning of a lengthy selection process.

"Now the next phase begins where we’ll be working with Fisheries and Oceans Canada, the Historic Sties, and Monuments Board of Canada and other stakeholders to determine which ones will be designated under the act," said Norman Shields, manager of the Heritage Lighthouse Program.

The Department of Fisheries and Oceans will now put the lights that have not been nominated up for grabs through its standard divestitures process.