PORT MOUTON – A lighthouse that has been a Queens County landmark for the past 145 years may soon become a heritage property.
The Region of Queens Municipality held a hearing Jan. 23 to allow the Spectacle Lighthouse Society to speak about the proposed inclusion of the Port Mouton (Spectacle) Lighthouse in the Municipal Registry of Heritage Properties for the Region of Queens.
The design of the lighthouse is one of the key reasons the society gave for the designation, calling it a “great example of wooden square-tapered lighthouses popular in the 19th and 20th centuries, commonly known as a ‘pepperbox’ design.”
Its age is another.
“(The) lighthouse has played an important role in navigation of the waters off Port Mouton since 1873,” the society said, adding that the “structure is highly valued by the local community as an important part of their heritage and identity.”
Finally, having the lighthouse in the Municipal Registry of Heritage Properties would “increase public awareness regarding the significance of heritage in our communities.”
Mary Ediger is one of the executive members of the society.
“I would like to thank you very much for considering this, for taking this on, for working so hard to make this happen, and we’re very, very excited about it because it really helps us with our society and gives us further grounds for carrying on and keeping the light up and running,” she said.
Lucy Burgess, another executive member, also spoke at the public hearing. She said the society recently got a dock permit.
“And we will be putting a floating dock in, so it’s more accessible to the members of the society and others who wish to visit,” she said.
The lighthouse has served the local fishery since its establishment in 1873.
Council has not yet made a decision on the issue but is considering the designation.
