Effort to save historic lighthouse site on remote Quebec island up for $50K prize
A group of citizens working to restore historic homes of former lighthouse keepers on an island in easternmost Quebec has a shot at $50,000 to make their project a reality.
The initiative is a finalist in this year's National Trust of Canada Next Great Save Contest.
Greenly Island, located on the Lower North Shore off the coast of Blanc-Sablon, Que., has been the site of a lighthouse that protected fishing vessels and other boats that have sailed the Strait of Belle Isle since 1878.
Today, a metal, automated lighthouse tower has replaced the old lighthouse, which was destroyed by fire. Nearby, dilapidated houses and other buildings still stand, emptied of all furnishings.
Since 2019, the Corporation de l'Île Greenly, a citizens' committee, has been working to restore and promote the site. It became a non-profit organization last year.
If it wins the popular, public vote in Canada's Next Great Save Contest, the corporation will take home a $50,000 prize to put toward its conservation efforts.
"We are certainly wowed," Jenny Thomas, the corporation's treasurer, told CBC Quebec's Breakaway.
"It's definitely a surprise to be one of the finalists, but we are very happy that we were chosen."
There are 12 finalists in the running. There are prizes for the top three, including $5,000 for third place and $10,000 for second place.
Greenly Island has a handful of old buildings and homes that once belonged to the lighthouse keepers who lived there. (Lambert Gagné-Coulombe/Radio-Canada)
As a child, Thomas saw her grandfather, John "Jack" Thomas, running the lighthouse as he was its last keeper. She described the island as isolated, with a lot of beach, rocks and no trees.
"You're surrounded by water," she said. "So the winds can be very harsh."
To get first place in the contest, the public has to vote for it. So the Greenly Island corporation has been doing everything it can to promote the contest, encouraging supporters to vote.
The competition includes similar projects from across Canada. Last year, nearly 200,000 people participated in the vote, with the Duncan Train Station Duncan, B.C., winning the top prize.
This year, voting opened on April 18 and will close on May 6. Voting can be done through the National Trust website. Votes are tallied in real-time on the website.
The National Trust is a registered charity that "leads and inspires action to save and renew historic places," the website says.
"Heritage places are critical for sustainable communities, central to responding to climate change and vital to our collective well-being and sense of belonging," the website says.
The Corporation de l'Île Greenly says the structures on the island have stood for more than a century. In 1928, the Bremen — the first aircraft to fly non-stop from Europe to North America — made an emergency landing on the island on April 13 due to weather.
Along with Perroquets Island, Greenly Island has been part of the Baie-de-Brador migratory bird refuge since 1925. Six species of seabirds stay there during the nesting season, from spring to summer.
The protected territory is also home to three-quarters of Quebec's Atlantic puffins. This colony, which numbered 62,000 in 1935, has fluctuated between 15,000 and 20,000 web-footed birds since 1999.
