A new modular lighthouse is being erected at Havre Boucher. (Courtesy of Canadian Coast Guard)

In Nova Scotia, the lighthouse is an icon that has been increasingly under threat from the wrecking ball, but the Canadian Coast Guard has found a way to build a better beacon that will please both mariners and tourists.

When the light comes on in Havre Boucher's new lighthouse next week, it will signal the dawn of a whole new generation of lighthouses.

"We are trying to replace those light stations with more modern and low-maintenance materials," Dave Smith, supervisor of maritime civil infrastructure with the Coast Guard, said Friday.

For the past 104 years, the Havre Boucher lighthouse has helped guide fishermen in and out of the harbour that opens onto St. George's Bay — 10 kilometres west of the Canso Causeway leading to Cape Breton.

The old lighthouse was rotting, and this spring it was torn down.

Instead of replacing it with a bare steel tower, the Coast Guard — in consultation with the community — decided to do something different: build it using modern materials, but keep the traditional look that is so familiar to the people who have depended on and grew up near the structures for generations.

Over the winter, a Coast Guard crew in Charlottetown, P.E.I., built the new modular lighthouse, which has an aluminum, light-weight frame.

New lighthouses have traditional look, modern design

The lighthouse is made up of three trapezoidal pieces, which fit together like a pyramid, Smith said.

"The light, when you look at it, you will not be able to tell that it's in three pieces, rather than one big piece," he said.

The pieces are so light that they can be airlifted to remote sites by helicopter, he said.

"They're low-maintenance because we don't want to be going back every year and paint the lighthouse," Smith said.

The vinyl looks like cedar shingles – great for conjuring up the romance of the sea for tourists eager to take pictures.

"You'd be hard-pressed to tell the difference unless you walk right up to it and actually touch it and find that it's actually vinyl siding," Smith said.

But this modern building is an illusion of the past – it won't require scraping and painting, and a high-pressure hose can be used to wash off the worst dirt.

"With the rain, it washes most of the stuff off that might have been there, like bird guano," Smith said.

Havre Boucher first to get new model

Building modular lighthouses will likely save the Coast Guard up to $20,000 per site, Smith said. The province aims to progressively replace all of Nova Scotia's lighthouses with the new modular versions as they fall into disrepair.

On the wharf in Havre Boucher, John Webb was readying his lobster traps for this year's season on Friday.

During bad weather and at night, the lighthouse becomes a lifeline for the fishermen and other mariners who use it, he said.

And these days, a lot of vacation boaters use the harbour, too.

"We have all kinds of sailboats coming in here, the odd yacht," Webb said. "We get about 30 a year. They stay overnight."

The lighthouse was also a big tourist attraction, fisherman Dale Munroe said.

"They want to know how the two range lights work," he said. "My grandfather took care of them for 40 years. I remember as a little kid, he used to go out with the kerosene can. There used to be lanterns."

Smith said it took about five weeks to build the parts and about one week on site to put it together.

Technicians will install the light and other electrical components next week.