While a Kingston museum still hopes to land the SS Keewatin, its board of directors seems to have splintered in two.
And one former board member of the Marine Museum of the Great Lakes at Kingston told MidlandToday that the Keewatin pursuit was one of the issues that led to the recent split that saw six board members tender their resignations.
“The reason was a difference of opinion about the future direction of the museum,” said former board member John Summers, who serves an adjunct professor of Museum Studies at Faculty at the University of Toronto as well as Hamilton’s manager of heritage resource management where he directs the operation of eight civic museums.
When asked if the Keewatin played a factor in that regard, Summers replied: “Yes, but only insofar as it was part of an overall approach to the future direction of the museum.”
Earlier this year, the museum had 14 board members, a number that has since shrunk to eight.
Museum board chair Chris West declined to address the resignations by six board members, but rather said getting the Keewatin remains something the museum is actively pursuing.
“I have no comments to make on board turnover,” West said. “The Marine Museum board continues to operate with purpose and integrity, and if the right conditions prevail, we look forward to receiving the SS Keewatin into the museum’s collections.
“The ship was accorded a Category B Canadian Cultural Property designation last fall, conditional on it residing in the dry dock at the Marine Museum of the Great Lakes at Kingston,” West said.
“The museum and (owner) Skyline (Investments) are still engaged in the time-consuming process of securing an agreed upon valuation of the ship from the Canadian Cultural Property Export Review Board. When a final decision will be rendered is difficult to say.”
In Port McNicoll, meanwhile, those hoping to keep the Edwardian-era ship docked at its home port have been given a sense of hope that the Kingston situation could help the vessel stay put.
“We here in Port McNicoll are watching this development with great interest,” said Keep Keewatin Home proponent and local historian Dan Travers.
“Obviously as fellow heritage enthusiasts, it is never a good thing to see a museum implode like this,” Travers said. “However, it does confirm our assertion that the SS Keewatin would be much better looked after in its home at Port McNicoll, and not in Kingston.”
In the spring, it was announced that the SS Keewatin would remain shuttered to visitors for a third consecutive tourism season.
Wayne Coombes, president of the Friends of Keewatin charitable group, recently said the ship’s owner, Skyline Investments, hasn’t discussed any plans with them to reopen the ship in time for the 2022 season. This follows a two-year hiatus as a result of COVID-19.
“This means Keewatin will be closed for a third season in a row,” said Coombes, whose volunteer organization restored and has operated the Edwardian-era vessel as an historical attraction in Port McNicoll since 2012.
Skyline Investments CEO Blake Lyon told MidlandToday in March that “at this point, the Keewatin will remain closed until we determine the best and most appropriate place going forward, whether that be Port McNicoll or elsewhere.”
Lyon earlier said the Titanic-era vessel will be "gifted” to the Marine Museum of the Great Lakes.
“We are working with certain agencies of the Government of Canada to determine this,” Lyon said, referring to the ship’s future home. “We will advise further once this is established.”
Friends of Keewatin president Wayne Coombes said "disappointed" doesn’t come anywhere close to describing how members of the volunteer group feel.
“For me ‘betrayed’ is more accurate,” Coombes said. “Skyline returned Keewatin to Port McNicoll promising to donate her to the community."
Built in Scotland, the vessel was launched on July 6, 1907, five years before the Titanic. It was retired in 1966 after spending almost 60 seasons transporting passengers. It returned with great fanfare to Port McNicoll in 2012.
