P.E.I. lighthouse hoping to win $50K prize in cross-country contest

A historic lighthouse in southeastern Prince Edward Island is among the finalists in a competition which could see thousands of dollars come to the site.

The historic Cape Bear Lighthouse is looking to win the $50,000 prize from the National Trust for Canada’s Next Great Save, a contest to help historic places.

Cape Bear Lighthouse & Marconi Station Inc., the non-profit group that operates the lighthouse, wants to expand.

“It’ll take a little bit of time, and a lot of money, so winning this would, sort of, give us a boost, or a jumpstart, to get this going,” said Valerie MacPherson, Board of Directors president.

She said they want to use the money to revitalize the site and move a nearby building, the Marconi Station, away from the shore alongside the lighthouse.

The top of the lighthouse suffered some weather-related damage and is being repaired by a local metalwork shop. The group expects it will be back in place on the structure in about a month.

The lighthouse has been moved twice to protect it from the eroding shoreline.

The Marconi Station has a particular claim to fame: a connection to the wreck of the Titanic.

“That evening, the operator, his name was Thomas Bartlett, he was working through the night, and he was the first, land-based, in Canada, to receive the distress call,” said MacPherson.

Many of the artifacts and exhibits are currently in storage without enough space to display them, including a desk which was inside the original station when the operator received that fateful call.

MacPherson said the $50,000 grand price would change that.

“When they come they’re a little bit disappointed because we don’t really have a lot to show them. We can tell them the story, and our staff do an excellent job of that, but they want to see things.”

It’s not the only finalist in the Maritimes. The St. John's Centre for the Arts, in a historic church in Arichat, Cape Breton, also made the final 12.

Voting ends May 6.

For more Prince Edward Island news visit our dedicated provincial page.