Ship was ready to sail to drydock, why is council balking?
To the Expositor:
As a member of the Friends of the Norisle I am appalled by the attitude towards the future status of the Norisle. This is an opportunity for our municipality to improve the economic growth for the Manitoulin and the whole of Northern Ontario.
I would like to address some of the comments that were presented at the Assiginack council meeting held on January 19 and outlined in The Expositor. When the Friends of the Norisle was formed in 2007, Assiginack council told our group that it could find various uses for the ship, any uses that would be beneficial to the area (and there have been many over the years).
At that time, our first project was to have a study done and this was paid for with a gift from an interested individual—there was no money spent by the Assiginack council. From that study we received a massive report that outlined what should be done to the boat to prepare it to be a passenger cruise ship. Along with that study we received a thorough business plan showing proposed income and expenses and which showed a generous profit.
Mr. Moffat infers in the recent interview that the boat is not worthy of being restored, contrary to the opinion of a professional naval architect. In fact, there are many ships running on the Great Lakes today that are well over 100-years-old. I am afraid that the mayor’s knowledge of large steamships is quite limited. We do not expect anyone in the group (known also as the S.S. Norisle Steamship Society) or here locally to have the knowledge of this technology—we are not experts. Council doesn’t have the expertise, but we have accumulated the professionals with this expertise.
We have worked closely with experts like Wayne Fisher who restores steam engines from all across Canada and the US. In fact, he is considered an expert in steam power.
Mr. Fisher is the owner of Engineered Electric in Toronto and is also owner of the Ontario Steam Heritage Museum in Milton. I think that he knows steam power inside and out. He has come up to Manitowaning several times, packed up parts from the ship, taken them back home, restored them completely and brought them back. Seven or eight truck loads of steam equipment have been overhauled completely from Norisle and done it all with absolutely no cost to the local community or to the Assiginack council.
Also, we were able to acquire the services of John Coulter, recently retired from TSSA (Technical Standards and Safety Authority) as a chief officer and Bill Graham who is a naval architect, retired from Transport Canada Marine Safety. This group of experts came here, drew up a complete design for a successful cruise ship on the Great Lakes. They presented this to our Society, showing that some areas were wonderful as they were; and some areas, such as the dining room and staterooms were to be enlarged. Following their input, we have done everything that was recommended by the report paid for by Government of Ontario and Fed Nor. The ship was then completely ready to go to the dry dock in Sault Ste. Marie. We just awaited funding from the Ontario Ministry of Tourism.
Mr. Moffat referred to this grant money: Assiginack council had signed to acquire this grant of $150,000 (the one we were expecting) and the money would have come in two weeks, with absolutely no obligation to the council. Assiginack council cancelled it. The grant never came.
To this point, all the money which we have spent has been donated—we’ve had no government grants and no money from the municipality. Generous donations of about a million dollars indicate the interest in this project. We have a supporting membership of over 200 from Ontario, Canada and North America.
Although the council may not be prepared to continue with this project, we, as the Friends of the Norisle, along with our expert partners, are ready to do it. Why is the council working against it?
Jean McLennan
Manitowaning
