In the midst of its 10th anniversary celebrations, Cape Jourimain Nature Centre finds itself battling to save one of its popular attractions.

The 140-year-old lighthouse on the grounds of the nature centre was declared as surplus by the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans in May 2010, along with approximately 490 other inactive lighthouses across the country.

Cape Jourimain Nature Centre, which operates as a non-profit organization, now faces a dilemma in determining if they can take the appropriate steps to save the lighthouse.

“We don’t want to take on any unnecessary costs that could drain our funds,” says Bill Prescott, chair of Cape Jourimain’s board of directors.

Roland Chiasson, the manager of education and outreach programs at Cape Jourimain, explains, “Purchasing the building is not so difficult, it’s after that when we are responsible for everything such as moving it.

“If it can be moved, the board then has to decide can we find money to move it and restore it.”

“We have hired a consultant firm which will do a study of the structure this summer and determine if it is worthy to take over,” Prescott explains. “The structure is going to have to be sound enough to move back from the bank.”

The lighthouse currently lies approximately 25 feet (7.62 metres) away from the coast, according to Prescott, which poses another risk if the lighthouse is left in its current location.

Mount Allison professor of geography and environment Jeff Ollerhead conducted a study a few years ago, examining the coast near where the lighthouse is located.

“That point had been eroding at about 0.85 metres per year,” says Ollerhead, who conducted the study between 1995 and 2003. “Because erosion is episodic, and natural fluctuations will affect it, the safe thing to do would be to look at it as 1 metre per year.”

The lighthouse has been moved twice already since its construction, approximately 100 feet each time, according to Prescott.

“By moving it back 10 metres,” Ollerhead explains, “it should give it another decade of safety, so 100 metres would equal about a hundred years. You can’t go wrong by going further back.”

Chiasson describes the time-pressing erosion factor as “hanging over our head” and explains the engineering study could essentially determine the fate of the lighthouse.

“If the building is not fit to be moved, we don’t want to try moving it and have it fall down on us,” he says.

Prescott says the trail that the lighthouse can be accessed from is the most popular of the three trails at the nature centre, and its location helps its popularity with tourists.

“Many of the other lighthouses in the Maritimes are on remote islands or not very near the highway, so its location in sight of the Trans-Canada highway makes it a target for the traveling population.”

The work that needs to be done to the lighthouse includes painting and possibly re-shingling of the exterior, as well as fixing up the trim. It will be uncertain what structural or interior work would need to be done until the consultant firm concludes their study of the building, but Prescott estimates the cost to be around $100,000-200,000.

“The remoteness of the lighthouse means we would have to build a road to it to get all of the heavy machinery out there.”

The lighthouse, built in 1870, operated for over 120 years guiding ships through the Northumberland Strait. The light was automated in the 1960s and was decommissioned in 1997.