The Hallett will not be open to the public again this year.
Fort Frances town council decided to forgo plans to report the historic tug but move ahead with the design of the park where the Hallett and Owandem will be displayed.
The town initially received no interest in the project when it took it to tender last year.
The project was then broken into three components, receiving a lone bid to restore the Hallett of over $628,000, more than $400,000 than expected.
Offers to design the park came from three firms, with a low bid of $50,000.
The town plans to seek a firm to build the park later this year, estimated at $750,000.
Last March, the town received a grant of $487,500 from the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund for the project.
Councillor Wendy Brunetta says while she would prefer to see people have the opportunity to tour the Hallett, the renovations come another day.
“We have many different things in our community, and other communities have as well that are just visual in terms of an object that you look at, and you can read the history and the information about it,” says Brunetta.
“The touring part does create some revenue, but it is something that we could work on later. I think the main thing we should do is get them in their place. Get them berthed, and develop the park, and at least make it look good aesthetically. Then, once we, perhaps in the next budget, apply for more grant funding to rehabilitate the inside so we can do the tours again.”
Mayor Andrew Hallikas would have favoured doing the project all at once.
He feels it is something the community deserves and needs to get done.
“We can’t keep letting our important artifacts deteriorate to not move forward on this,” says Hallikas.
“Those boats are going to continue to deteriorate, and the cost of fixing them and mounting them is going to continue to go up.”
He adds the groups that worked to restore the Owandum have been waiting patiently for the tug to have a final resting spot.
It has been in storage for several years.
The Hallett remains on blocks, taking up parking spaces at the waterfront.
