A historic shipwreck that's been moved to a Leamington, Ont., farm is deteriorating quickly, and now the property owner is giving the town until the end of the year to remove it.

The N.J. Nessen was shipwrecked off the shores of Leamington on Lake Erie in 1929. Then, in the 1980s, parts of the Nessen were rediscovered during the construction of a marina.

The bow of the Nessen was salvaged from the shipwreck. It now rests on a farm in Comber, Ont., near Leamington.The bow of the Nessen was salvaged from the shipwreck. It now rests on a farm in Comber, Ont., near Leamington. (Town of Leamington)In 1984, Robert McCracken offered to store the six-metre section of the wooden steamer ships' bow on his Comber, Ont., farm, near Leamington. After 27 years, McCracken said he's ready to see the badly deteriorating artifact off his property.

The town wants to relocate the marine treasure back to the Leamington Municipal Marina grounds and build a protective display around it.

"It's in very fragile condition right now, because it has been outside in the environment all this time," said Amanda Smith, Recreation and Culture Manager for the town of Leamington. "We'll redesign a garden and put an enclosure over top of it, so that way, it can be on display, have some story boards, and really make it interactive."

The story of the Nessen

The Nessen was hauling scrap metal when it took shelter from a Northwesterly gale in Pigeon Bay in October of 1929. The wind switched direction, blowing the anchored vessel towards shore. Rescuers were dispatched from Point Pelee, Ont., the last such life saving station still in operation on the Canadian side of the Great Lakes.

Factoid

The Pelee Passage has the highest density of shipwrecks in all the Great Lakes because of the treacherous reefs, sudden storms and heavy ship traffic.

Source: Town of Leamington, Ont.

After several tries, rescuers brought all 13 crew members safely to shore. It marked the last rescue by the life saving station before it closed.

Paying for the Nessen

The town committee, called ErieQuest, applied unsuccessfully in 2010 for an Ontario Trillium Foundation grant to pay for the Nessen memorial project. It was turned down based on "other priorities" for Trillium funding.

The project, headed up by the town, in conjunction with the Leamington & Mersea Historical Society, is seeking approval for $15,000 from Leamington town council, and another $60,000 will be raised through donations and fund raising events.