FORT FRANCES — “The Hallett,” a 1940s-era logging boat, has made its home in the Pithers Point Park in Fort Frances since it was made open to the public as a tourist attraction in 1986. Tuesday, the 60-foot, 57-ton vessel made its way to its new home at the Sorting Gap Marina, as part of the town and the Fort Frances Museum and Cultural Center’s plan to create enhanced tourist attractions on the La Verendrye Parkway waterfront.

The boat was lifted by crane out of its current location at Pithers Point Park for transportation to its new water lot site at the marina. “The Hallett” and the lookout tower will be located at the Sorting Gap Marina site to be reopened as tourist attractions, according to officials, as part of the Heritage Tourism Strategy adopted by the Fort Frances Town Council in 2004.

According to Pam Hawley of the Fort Frances Museum and Cultural Center, the lookout tower and “The Hallett” have been closed since 2002 due to safety concerns with the tower. Re-opening the artifacts at the La Verendrye Parkway location is a natural fit with the other attractions in the waterfront area, she said. “The Hallett” was donated by Boise Cascade Canada to the town after its use as a logging boat ended in 1974. It once moved between 70,000 to 90,000 cords of wood a year in about 20 trips lasting 100 miles each, according to information from the museum. Modernization of woodland operations and environmental concerns docked the boat permanently, as pulp trucks became the standard transportation in the 1970s.

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