TUKTOYAKTUK - People in Tuktoyaktuk are planning to repaint a historic ship, which now sits in the hamlet.

This boat, called the Our Lady of Lourdes, has been in Tuktoyaktuk since the 1930s. Thanks to some volunteers, it will soon be getting a new coat of paint. - Philippe Morin/NNSL photo

One artist and historian, Colville Lake's Bern Will Brown, also wants the boat to be protected by a fence.

The Our Lady of Lourdes schooner was donated on behalf of Pope Pius XI in the 1930s, and was used as a supply ship for Catholic missions.

For 37 years, it also helped transport Tuktoyaktuk's children to residential Catholic schools.

Now, the boat is a popular tourist attraction, and is often used by children as a play structure.

"It's gone up and down the Arctic coast, probably as far as Kugluktuk and Cambridge Bay, carrying supplies for the missions," said Tuktoyaktuk Catholic Sister Fay Trombley, when asked about the boat's history.

She added the boat could use a little care.

"The paint is peeling and I think some boards are loose because kids scramble on it," she said.

Trombley said volunteers are needed for the restoration, which should happen this summer.

"We already have a few people signed on, and we think it will happen in late July or August," she said.

But Brown, who helped kickstart the project and donated money for the paint, said future protection is needed.

He said he remembers how two Yukon "stern wheelers" - the Casca and the Whitehorse - were perhaps deliberately burned in 1974, and said a fence should be built.

"My fear is someone could start a fire," he said. "A fence should be built around it to prevent kids from getting up. It's not just a question of getting new paint."

While there are no current plans to build a fence, Trombley said the hamlet has approved of the restoration.

"The mayor indicated at a meeting last year that the funds would be available if the services were," she said.

The Our Lady of Lourdes currently sits on a platform which was donated by the local oil industry.