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The S.S. Keewatin, an Edwardian-era passenger ship, had the capacity to carry 288 passengers around the Great Lakes in complete luxury. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Great Lakes steamship returning home to Canada

Tom Hoepf
Tom Hoepf
The S.S. Keewatin, an Edwardian-era passenger ship, had the capacity to carry 288 passengers around the Great Lakes in complete luxury. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
The S.S. Keewatin, an Edwardian-era passenger ship, had the capacity to carry 288 passengers around the Great Lakes in complete luxury. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

SAUGATUCK, Mich. (AP) – The S.S. Keewatin Great Lakes passenger steamship will be moved from Michigan to Ontario, Canada.

The Grand Rapids Press reports that final tours of the 350-foot steamship are this weekend on Lake Kalamazoo in Douglas.

Skyline International Development Co. bought the Keewatin and plans to move it from Lake Kalamazoo to Port McNicoll on the south end of Georgian Bay next spring where it will become a permanent maritime museum.

The Canadian vessel had been a tourist attraction in the Saugatuck and Douglas areas in southwest Michigan for four decades. Port McNicoll is the Keewatin’s original port.

“We are thrilled to return the world’s last Edwardian passenger steamship to the people of Tay Township and Canada,” said Gil Blutrich, Skyline chairman and president.

The ship was built in 1907 in Scotland as a smaller design to the RMS Titanic. It was used for almost 60 years as part of the Canadian Pacific Railway’s rail-to-water transportation system of deluxe travel.

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Information from: The Grand Rapids Press, http://www.mlive.com/grand-rapids

Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

AP-WF-10-16-11 0803GMT