Latest news with #TransportationMuseumofThunderBay
CBC
09-04-2025
- General
- CBC
Thunder Bay City Council votes to scrap historic tugboat
Social Sharing Any hopes to see a century-old tugboat in Thunder Bay preserved have sunk after Thunder Bay City council voted to scrap the James Whalen Monday. The Transportation Museum of Thunder Bay has been advocating to preserve the Whalen. David Muir, vice chairman and director of site and operations at the museum, made a deputation to council pitching the idea of keeping just the top part of the boat-- but to no avail. "I'm upset by it because we've invested so much time trying to make this work," said Muir. After the historic tugboat sank in 2022, the City awarded a nearly $800,000 contract to lift it out of the Kamanistiqua river. Council previously voted last Fall to preserve parts of the tug, and recycle the rest. It changed course after receiving higher-than-expected bids on the tender for preservation and recycling. Muir said preserving the top deck would add an extra $120,000 to the cost, but that the museum would eventually pay back the difference to the City. "We can make it a land based attraction that the public tourists, of which we had 6000 last year, visit and the various schools in Thunder Bay and region can actually get the feel of being on the Whalen," said Muir. Current River Ward Councillor Andrew Foulds said many are unhappy the historic boat won't be preserved. "I think it's very easy to point fingers and blame. I just think it's sad and unfortunate," said Foulds. Foulds said he put forward a resolution to save and display up to $20,000 of provisional items recognizing the story of the Whalen, but it was defeated. "There's the enormous cost to recycling it and there's not really that many options," said Foulds. Dealing with the fate of the tugboat has been a frustration for council, he said. "I appreciate the situation and I know there is a lot of documenting and pictures being taken and you know, we're going to do the best that we can in protecting some of that legacy," Foulds said. The cost to recycle the boat is approximately $580,000.
CBC
21-03-2025
- General
- CBC
City of Thunder Bay now recommending complete recycling of James Whalen tug
Higher-than-expected bids have prompted the City of Thunder Bay to change its recommendation on preserving parts of an historic tug boat. Last fall, Thunder Bay City Council voted to preserve parts of the James Whalen tug, and recycle the rest. "The tender went out in January, closed early February," said Cory Halvorsen, the city's manager of parks and open spaces. "The award was based on the base price of recycling the entire vessel, and then there were three provisional items that were provided in addition to the base price." "Those provisional items included a group of about 10 individual pieces, or portions of the vessel that could be sort of selected individually," he said. "And then there were two versions of preserving the deck, either the top deck or the entire deck from the water line up." However, base price of recycling the entire vessel came in higher than the city estimated, Halvorsen said. "We had budgeted $290,000 plus or minus 30 per cent at that time," he said. "The base price came in at $579,000." As a result, the city is now recommending council award a tender to recycling the entire Whalen, not preserving any of it, in a report being presented on Monday. The Whalen was built in 1905, and was brought to Thunder Bay after it was retired in the 1990s. It had been moored at Kam River Heritage Park until it was found submerged in the river about three years ago. The city has since moved it to a dry dock on private land. The report states the city did look at some other options aside from recycling the vessel. There were discussions with the Transportation Museum of Thunder Bay, for example, "to offer them the opportunity to fund the provisional items included in the tender that would retain select pieces or entire portions of the deck on the condition that they would fund the additional costs and take over full ownership." While the museum was interested, the report states the museum — which operates the Alexander Henry historic ship that's docked at Pool Six — said it was unable to commit unless it received a "viable long term land use licence," which would allow the museum to apply for funding. The problem with that, Halvorsen said, is the city has a limited amount of time to award the tender, and negotiation a land use agreement with the museum would take months. Moving the Whalen to another city-owned site, meanwhile, would be very challenging, Halvorsen said.
