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Coast Guard Asks Duluth, Minn., To Stop Using Old Foghorn

Posted on: Thursday, 8 September 2005, 15:00 CDT

Sep. 8--Duluth's classic, booming foghorn could soon be relegated to a daily toot for the tourists.

The U.S. Coast Guard has asked the City Council to discontinue using the old diaphone foghorn as the primary aid to navigation in the Duluth port. Its use interferes with Coast Guard fog detection equipment and their own horn, according to city documents released Wednesday.

However, city administrators -- who support the request -- say they still will be able to fire off the old horn once a day at noon for the tourists or on special occasions.

The resolution probably will be voted on by the council at Monday's regular meeting.

When the fog rolls in during the shipping season, the Coast Guard uses what has been derisively labeled a peanut whistle. It is an actual foghorn, though, but doesn't have the range or resonance of the old foghorn on the South Pier of the ship canal on Park Point.

"It's certainly not like the foghorn diaphone sound, but it does meet their (the Coast Guard's) requirements," said Dick Larson, city Public Works and Utilities director.

The foghorn has been a point of controversy for several years.

The modern fog signal has been in use since the early 1990s, when residents complained that the old horn was too loud and rattled their windows all night. As a result, the quieter horn operates between 9 p.m. and 9 a.m.

Last winter, the nonprofit that owns the old foghorn threatened to remove it in an argument over maintenance costs and how tourism dollars are spent.

City Administrator Mark Winson said those battles have been resolved for months.

However, the old diaphone foghorn has been unused for part of the summer because of a problem with the Coast Guard's fog detector, he said. It's worked for the past couple of months.

"There just hasn't been that much fog," Winson said.

City Councilor Jim Stauber lamented the loss of the old horn and questioned whether the city might be to blame.

"I'm very disappointed that we haven't been able to maintain it," Stauber said. "We're a tourist city on a Great Lake. It's part of our local culture."

Eric Ringsred, whose nonprofit owns the old horn, didn't return a phone message left Wednesday by the News Tribune.

Stauber said there should be a discussion at the council meeting with administrators about how the old foghorn can remain in regular use.

Coast Guard officials could not be reached for comment Wednesday evening.

However, Larson said the issue came up this summer when the Coast Guard encountered technical problems as they tried to repair their fog detection system. They've had difficulties interfacing with the old horn and as a result couldn't properly maintain control of their horn, he said.

"The city wants to cooperate with the Coast Guard," said Larson, who cheerfully noted that the old horn will still be heard daily during the summer.

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To see more of the Duluth News-Tribune, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.DuluthSuperior.com.

Copyright (c) 2005, Duluth News-Tribune, Minn.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: Duluth News-Tribune (Duluth, Minn.)

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