The Saugeen Times

Heritage The story of the restoration of the Chantry Island Light Article 11

Heritage

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The roof in place with no windows in yet. Notice the buckets of sand in the upper right. We were still working on the stone work inside the Keeper's Quarters

The loft ruffed in and the roof on solidly.

We always tried to save any of the old slate that we found and much of it was given to the Art School to produce beautiful paintings like this one done in 1999

The story of the roof was interesting for all of us. The original John Brown roof was made of beautiful slate (see the bird above). There were thousands of pieces, broken and laying around the area of the house.

The roof had been totally destroyed by batteries being thrown into it from the top of the lighthouse. I guess it was hard enough to carry new ones up after the 1954 electrification let alone to bring down the old ones.

We wanted to restore the roof to its original slate, but how to do it? Ron Seaman, his brother nor even his father had ever done a proper slate roof. Ron did some research and I bought some books on slate roofs. Here is what we found out:

Real slate is very expensive.
It is hard to install and delicate. You can't just pound some roofing nails into it. You have to have proper holes and be very delicate about pounding.
If any slate is damaged in the future, you have to be even more careful replacing the slate. It's an art. How do you walk around on it for example?

In doing his research Ron found some slate substitutes made out of recycled tires that seemed promising. Ron got us some samples from a distributor in Barrie Ontario.

It was expensive, but nothing like a real slate roof. The material was of very high quality and the installation appeared to be easier than even a normal roof due to the nail indicators and markings on the reverse side. From a few feet away it looked like real slate.

Later after installation we had many comments on our 'real slate'. We were able to 'fool' some real experts. We used it on the old privy too.

There is a lesson to be learned from this. If we had been doing a restoration that adhered to the historical guidelines dictated by government agencies, we would not have been able to use the replica slate and the cost would have been too much for us. Also, we could not have done our own installation.

We placed an order with a distributor in Barrie, Ontario. All our finances were done by our Board financial officers. Early on Bob Trelford had worked closely with Lorie Sweiger at the Town Offices. At this time John Rigby served as our treasurer. Later it was Vicki Tomori. The system worked very well.

Our funds were on deposit with the Town of Saugeen Shores and we were prepared to pay on delivery for our slate. On the appointed day we all showed up at the Boat House to unload our prize roofing material. We had a cheque ready from the Town of Saugeen Shores with all the tax and shipping included.

The truck driver examined our cheque and said he was under instructions to get cash only from us. We had taken on the status of possible con men versus customers.

We were shocked. What gives? We were not asking for any price breaks and we did not think cash was appropriate especially in an amount over $4,000. We were annoyed, but the truck driver was unyielding, so we finally reached a compromise. Somebody took him down to the CIBC a block away and got him whatever he needed. He took off for parts unknown.

The odd thing about it at the time was that there were no slate roofs like it in the area and we thought it might behoove the company to pay attention to what we were doing and use it in their publicity. Their publicity could help them and us too.

Also, Ron Seaman was a well known contractor and if he and his brother recommended the product, it would take off. They ignored us and we never called them again. Their product was good and should last for 75 years or more, however. It appeared to us that the product deserved a better company. Over time many other companies have offered similar products and they help deplete the number of old tires that go into land fills..

We loved the durability of the product and later I used a few pieces on the connection between the dock and our metal walkways. A ramp connected the two and it would rock back and forth with the waves and destroy the timbers on the wooden dock. I slipped two of the fake slate shingles under the ramp and they took the rocking very well.

The only trouble we have noticed is in the heat some of the shingles will rise up a bit. This may not be caused by the shingles themselves, but could be a result of the roof rafters moving or our installation methods. This can be fixed easily by putting a few more nails under the affected shingles.

The next article will discuss our booming numbers of volunteers. People knew that we were going to be successful. They could see the results from shore. We got a lot of new heavy-duty volunteers and this story deserves a chapter.

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Like the song below says, we believed in the future:

Upon the rugged shores of Lake Huron

The seasons have all come and gone.

Of men and boats and harbours from the storm

The Lighthouse brings them back to shore

The Lighthouse stands for so much more

In the hearts of those who keep the memories warm

....

What a gift it was to be able to say We Were Here.

~~ We Were Here ~~

Words and Music by Michael Goodwin

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for the song "We Were Here"

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