Fort Point Lighthouse in Queens County, NS. Photo: Nova Scotia Government
The Region of Queens has decided to let the Queens County Museum operate the Fort Point Lighthouse.
At the March 23, Region of Queens Municipality’s Council meeting, a motion approved the management proposal from Queens County Museum for the seasonal operation of Fort Point Lighthouse for a three-year period, beginning in spring 2021.
It has been a visitor attraction site for approximately 30 years. The lighthouse which is the third oldest in Nova Scotia is steeped in history, it has stood at the mouth of the Mersey River since 1855, and was decommissioned in 1989.
The Region of Queens Municipality opened it seasonally as an attraction, enabling the public to take in the attraction.
“It will be exciting to see the new direction that Queens County Museum takes Fort Point Lighthouse. Fort Point will be an excellent location for Queens County Museum to showcase the cultural and seafaring history of our Region,” said Darlene Norman, Mayor of the Region of Queens Municipality.
According to Museum Director Linda Rafuse, the museum already has many plans for programming at Fort Point Lighthouse.
“We want to make it an exciting place to visit, we are working on having guided tours, events for children and we know people tend to associate privateers and pirates so we’ll be incorporating that in some way.”
She also says the event is an ideal location for events or small concerts as it offers a scenic backdrop for those types of events.
Gaining the management rights for the lighthouse is welcome news to Rafuse and her staff who she says take a lot of pride in sharing the local history.
“On behalf of our Board and Staff, we can’t tell you how thrilled we are, the museum now having the privilege of running this iconic landmark, Fort Point Lighthouse. She will reopen this summer as an Interpretive Centre featuring the history of the lighthouse and the colonial history of the site plus a few other surprises.”
To get all the new initiatives up and running Rafuse says they will need volunteers and she says that they will be releasing more information on those opportunities shortly.
According to Rafuse they are targeting June 1st as the first day the lighthouse will open under new management though she says that date is tenative.
