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The historical 85-year-old woody schooner Theresa E. Connor, described arsenic the flagship of the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic successful Lunenburg, N.S., is facing an uncertain future.
Theresa E. Connor has been moved to shipyard for assessment
Vernon Ramesar · CBC News
· Posted: Jun 02, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 1 hr ago
The historical 85-year-old woody schooner Theresa E. Connor, described arsenic the flagship of the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic successful Lunenburg, N.S., faces an uncertain future.
In request of repair, it was removed from the dock extracurricular the depository successful February and is present astatine the Lunenburg Shipyard awaiting an assessment.
The 139-foot (42-metre) vas was commissioned by the Maritime National Fish Company and built successful Lunenburg astatine the Smith and Rhuland Shipyard, which besides built the Bluenose and the Bluenose II.
Schooners similar the Theresa E. Connor would sail to the Grand Banks and deploy dories to food for cod. The vas is the past of its benignant successful Canada.
Rob Maguire, a spokesperson for the Department of Communities, Culture, Tourism and Heritage, confirmed the vessel's presumption successful an email.
"Several structural issues were identified, and the vas has been hauled retired of the h2o astatine the Lunenburg Shipyard for a afloat assessment," Maguire said successful the email.
"We're moving intimately with our colleagues astatine the depository and with the Department of Public Works to find the champion people of action."
Dan Moreland, a salient fig successful Lunenburg's sailing assemblage and the skipper of the Picton Castle, described the Theresa E. Connor arsenic "a priceless artifact."
He said the gross generated by vessels similar the schooner helped physique the town.
"You don't need to bash a forensic survey to recognize she needs a soup-to-nuts overhaul," helium said.
"She's a cathedral that needs to beryllium restored. When Notre Dame burned down they didn't hesitate to hole it up."
Bradison Boutilier, proprietor of the Lunenburg Shipyard, confirmed the vessel's beingness and the shipyard's committedness to its care.
Boutilier said determination was an implied work to look aft section historical vessels erstwhile helium acquired the shipyard successful 2023.
Because of the property and information of the Theresa E. Connor, the shipyard worked with the assemblage and an engineering steadfast to co-ordinate the move, Boutilier said.
"We took the work of shifting the vas and hauling the vas and the occupation was done good and safely," helium said. "She's retired of the h2o and awaiting her adjacent state."
He noted determination is small outgo to storing the vessel.
While the shipyard tin assess the vessel, Boutilier said that the restoration would impact specialized trades wrong the community.
He said determination is simply a beardown propulsion from the depository and the assemblage to person the vas overhauled and backmost successful the water.
But helium said the destiny of the vas is retired of his hands. He said it would beryllium up to the state to fig retired "what the economics are." There is nary estimation yet connected a imaginable cost.
The fisheries depository did not respond to an interrogation request.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Vernon Ramesar is simply a newsman and video and vigor writer primitively based successful Trinidad. He present lives successful Halifax.
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