THUNDER BAY – The path has been cleared for the Alexander Henry to be docked at the location preferred by the proponents who led the charge for the decommissioned icebreaker to be brought back to Thunder Bay.
City council on Monday night approved a resolution directing administration to come to a lease agreement with the Thunder Bay Port Authority, allowing the former Canadian Coast Guard ship to be displayed at the Pool Six location.
Charlie Brown, president of the Lakehead Museum Transportation Society group that led the way to acquiring the Alexander Henry, was pleased the icebreaker will be able to be situated along the city’s waterfront south of Prince Arthur’s Landing.
“It has the physical requirements that we need for the Henry as far as the docking itself,” Brown said of the Pool Six site.
“It’s in the marina location, which will give it the highest visibility and viability for our project for tourism and people coming down to visit it.”
The icebreaker, which arrived in Thunder Bay on June 27 after being towed across the Great Lakes, has been docked at a private iron ore pier in the interim while city officials worked to determine its long-term spot.
Administration had recommended the ship be located at the Kam River Heritage Park, citing reluctance to provide the indemnification the Port Authority had been seeking to allow a lease at Pool Six.
That delay sunk plans for a grand opening during the August civic long weekend. Brown said plans are about a month behind schedule.
“We are working presently on the Henry in the location it is right now cleaning it up. Hopefully this week we’ll get a spray wash on there and get the exterior clean,” Brown said.
“We do have to do a lot of work on the site itself because it’s been grown over. We have to cut grass, move fences and get the electrical hooked up.”
The icebreaker was built by the Port Arthur Shipbuilding Company and was commissioned as a Coast Guard vessel in 1959 before a 25-year career where it was an annual fixture in the Lake Superior harbour to kick off the shipping season. Following its retirement in 1984, the ship was eventually a tourist attraction in Kingston operated by the Marine Museum of the Great Lakes.
Brown is hopeful the community will be able to get an up close look at the ship before the end of the season.
“We would like a grand opening in September if humanly possible,” Brown said. “The sooner we get it over there and cleaned up, the sooner we’ll be opening up for the public.”
