The "Peninsula" was used to haul logs on Lake Superior

MARATHON, Ont. - The Marathon and District Historical Society hopes to raise $100,000 to purchase a 74-year-old tug from a Thunder Bay company and turn it into a tourist attraction.

Gravel and Lake Services Limited currently owns the Peninsula, which in decades past was used to tow large rafts of wood from the mouth of the Pic River into Peninsula Harbour.

Society president Stan Johnson says the group would like to have the tug out of the water and on display in time for Marathon's 75th birthday celebrations in 2019.

They've collected more than half of the purchase price so far.

In an interview with tbnewswatch.com, Johnson said Gravel and Lake Services, in a handshake deal, has agreed to sell the Peninsula for its value as scrap.

A spokesperson for the company could not be reached for comment.

The tug was built in Montreal in the latter part of the Second World War and used by the Royal Canadian Navy to retrieve damaged vessels.

After the war, she was acquired by Marathon Paper Mills, the owner of a newly-constructed kraft pulp mill.

The Peninsula is believed to be the last Norton Class tug still in service in Canada.

Johnson said "There's no safe place to store it in Lake Superior, unless you're in Thunder Bay behind the breakwater."

The historical society plans to put it on land at a spot overlooking Peninsula Harbour, where dormitories used to stand.

"When we get it home and out of the water, the township is going to go to work for government grants, because we want to display it artfully and tastefully, with the mockup of a wharf or something similar."



