By Doug Draper
Fort Erie’s Point Abino Lighthouse may not get the care it deserves, but it certainly is getting some attention.
The iconic Point Abino Lighthouse, still standing off the shores of Lake Erie.
The stately old lighthouse, located along the shores of Lake Erie, is one of six Ontario lighthouses (and the only one in Niagara) featured in the latest spring/summer issue of ‘Boating Ontario Magazine’ – a publication that goes out to about 50,000 boaters through marinas and marine retailers across the province.
In an article titled ‘Leading Lights – Touring Ontario Lighthouses’, the Barrie, Ontario-based magazine describes the 92-year-old Point Abino Lighthouse as an “impressive” structure, “formed in Classical Revival architectural style with ancient Roman and Greek design elements.” It goes on to name the waters off Crystal Beach and nearby Port Colborne as “great” boating areas.
All the more reason for the Town of Fort Erie, which took over ownership of the lighthouse from the federal government about a decade ago, to keep pressing senior levels of government for the funding necessary to preserve this important part of our heritage for residents and visitors alike.
The Point Abino Lighthouse, reported here in Niagara At Large at www.niagaraatlarge.com, was also featured last year in a magazine with a cross-country circulation called ‘Our Canada’. The article for that magazine was written by Paul Kassay, a Crystal Beach area residents who, at one point, wrote that “the really big problem here is that the lighthouse proper is considered to be on the Doomsday List by some. It is literally deteriorating. In an effort to get enough money to save the light, the Town has decided to sell off the Lightkeeper’s dwelling, in order to pay for the restoration. And many, like me, are outraged.”
Indeed, Niagara At Large featured a story by Janet Truckenbrodt, a long-time activist for heritage preservation in Niagara, this April 10, titled ‘Keeper’s Dwelling For Fort Erie’s Historic Point Abino Lighthouse Must Remain In Public Hands’. You can find that piece by clicking on www.niagaraatlarge.com and scrolling down through the posts on our home page. Last February, Niagara At Large reprised the article in Our Canada magazine by Paul Kassay, which is also still available by scrolling down to the bottom of the front page and clicking on ‘older entries’.
In the meantime, all of the attention this gem of a lighthouse is getting from magazines in other regions of the country should activate us to do everything possible to encourage our governments to preserve and the accompanying lightkeeper’s dwelling as heritage sites for future generations.
(Find out more about Boating Ontario Magazine by clicking on http://www.boatingontariomagazine.com/receivecopy.asp.)
(Click on www.niagaraatlarge.com for Niagara At Large and more news and commentary on matters of interest and concern to residents in our greater binational Niagara region.)
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