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Light Tower

Michipicoten Island, Ontario, Canada

Formally Recognized: 1991/09/30

General view of the Light Tower, showing the tower's six flying buttresses, 1987.; Canadian Coast Guard / Garde côtière canadienne, 1987.
General view
No Image
No Image

Other Name(s)

n/a

Links and documents

Construction Date(s)

1911/01/01

Listed on the Canadian Register: 2008/10/22

Statement of Significance

Description of Historic Place

Located on the banks of the Michipicoten Island, the Light Tower is part of a group of buildings that make up a lightstation on Lake Superior. The elegant tapered profile of the concrete tower is emphasized by six flying buttresses, supported by double arches, which surround its central column. Crowning the tall tower is a lantern that sits on a circular concrete platform. The designation is confined to the footprint of the building.

Heritage Value

The Light Tower was designated Classified Federal Heritage Building for its architectural historical and environmental importance. It is an advanced example of the reinforced-concrete, flying-buttress towers developed early in the twentieth century in locations which required strong wind resistance. Its form is an adaptation of a prototype built in Belle Isle, Newfoundland in 1908, and the resulting tapered elegance and height of the light tower distinguish it from its predecessors.

The construction of the Light Tower is associated with efforts to upgrade the quality of lighthouse construction in the early years of the twentieth century, following a long period of restrained government spending.

The tower also enjoys significance for the relatively unchanged nature of the site on which it stands, and for its prominent role in establishing the character of the lightstation.

Sources: Martha Phemister, Lighttower, Michipicoten Island, Ontario, Federal Heritage Buildings Review Office Building Report 88-145; Lighttower, Michipicoten Island, Ontario, Heritage Character Statement, 88-145.

Character-Defining Elements

The following character-defining elements of the Light Tower should be respected.

Key elements that define the heritage value of the Light Tower include:
- the tower's six flying buttresses (each supported by double arches) flanking a tapered tower of particular elegance;
- the use of reinforced concrete in the construction of buttresses, permitting a structural response to the increased weight of the improved lanterns and lighting apparatus of the period, and to the horizontally applied wind loads;
- its location as part of a grouping of buildings added later in time, which provide a good example of adaptation to changing circumstances.

Recognition

Jurisdiction

Federal

Recognition Authority

Government of Canada

Recognition Statute

Treasury Board Heritage Buildings Policy

Recognition Type

Classified Federal Heritage Building

Recognition Date

1991/09/30

Historical Information

Significant Date(s)

n/a

Theme - Category and Type

Function - Category and Type

Current

Historic

Transport-Water
Navigational Aid or Lighthouse

Architect / Designer

Lieutenant Colonel William Anderson

Builder

n/a

Additional Information

Location of Supporting Documentation

Indigenous Affairs and Cultural Heritage Directorate Documentation Centre 3rd Floor, room 366 30 Victoria Street Gatineau, Québec J8X 0B3

Cross-Reference to Collection

Fed/Prov/Terr Identifier

3440

Status

Published

Related Places

n/a

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