It has taken almost 50 years, but the fight against the construction of a hydro dam near Fredericton has come full circle.

In the mid 1960s, hundreds of people were displaced when the Mactaquac Dam was built. Most of the residents fought the project and now some of their descendants are fighting to keep the dam.

Jackie Morehouse’s home was built in 1867 and for a century it sat along the Mactaquac Stream. In 1967, her home and dozens of others were moved to make way for the hydroelectric dam.

“We had to move our house,” says Morehouse. “They had to give up their livelihood. I mean, the mills and things, that was a whole culture. The church was burned, I mean, farms were lost and so why can't we just leave that behind us?"

Morehouse is part of a group of Mactaquac area residents that don’t want things to change. The group says removing the dam would drain a lake and kill a community.

“It would not only destroy our community, it would destroy the valuable habitat, the ecosystem that's been in place now, tourism, our beautiful Mactaquac Park sits here, which was built on expropriated land,” says Morehouse.

Late last month the province said the dam is nearing the end of its operational life, but can function safely into 2030.

Preliminary work is already underway to determine whether the dam should be rebuilt, refurbished or decommissioned.

Morehouse says the Conservation Council of New Brunswick has begun a campaign aimed at turning public opinion to decommissioning the dam, however, the Conservation Council says the decision isn’t theirs to make and it’s one they have yet to take a position on.

“The Conservation Council doesn't have an official position on the dam,” says Stephanie Merrill of the Conservation Council of New Brunswick. “That's a process that has to go through our Board of Directors and it has not come up yet as a topic for discussion."

The Department of Energy would not comment on the issue and instead directed CTV News to the provincial utility. Calls to NB Power were not returned.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Andy Campbell