Today, after years of service, the DeTour Reef Light may appear in good condition
from a passing boat or shoreline glimpse, but it needs a long term project
to restore it properly. A Michigan Lighthouse Assistance Program grant allowed
for restoration of a deck crane on the lighthouse in 2001. Other recent State
and Federal grants awarded will enable the DRLPS to completely restore the
lighthouse during the next few years.
These pictures represent the severity of the interior deterioration. Notice the boarded up windows and poor condition of the interior walls. In the summer of 2000, the U.S. Coast Guard in Cleveland hired a contractor who repaired the lighthouse's damaged interior plaster walls, encapsulated the plaster that contains asbestos, removed damaged lead paint, and sealed and painted all interior surfaces in preparation for the lease of the lighthouse to the DeTour Reef Light Preservation Society. A 20-year lease from the Coast Guard was signed by the DRLPS on September 5, 2000.
As you travel up the DeTour Passage along Drummond Island's western flank, you'll have lots of company. Freighter traffic between Lake Superior and all of the lower lakes must pass this way, thus making the St. Mary's River one of the busiest spots for shipping on the entire Great Lakes. Because of the convergence of cold Lake Superior water and the warmer lower lakes, two effects occur at the DeTour Reef Lighthouse area fog and sport fishing. It is not uncommon for 1,000-foot freighters to have to anchor for a day due to fog or find scores of small boats fishing for salmon and other game fish at the mouth of the river. This still active light was automated in 1974.
Let this light guide
our way to the complete restoration of this wonderful link to our past and
shine as a beacon to welcome the next generations to travel in
its shadow.
Phone: 906-493-6609
Email: drlps@lighthouse.net
