Lighthouses suffer under wait for heritage announcement

Several communities on Prince Edward Island are still waiting to find out which, if any Island lighthouses will receive heritage status this year.

Last Friday, Minister Leona Aglukkaq announced that 74 Canadian lighthouses would be designated under the Heritage Lighthouse Protection Act, but she didn't specify which ones.

Carol Livingstone, the vice-president of the Prince Edward Island Lighthouse Society, said until Island communities know which lighthouses have heritage status, it's difficult to move forward with any needed repairs.

Heritage status could mean new funding opportunities for lighthouse maintenance.

"Some of them need things as simple as scrape them and get a good coat of paint," said Livingstone.

"Tourists are coming now. People love to take pictures of gleaming white lighthouses with red lanterns on the top and so on. And many of the lighthouses right now are dilapidated looking, because they have been waiting to get this OK."

The federal government is required to make the list of lighthouses public within the next 90 days.