Bluenose II restoration costs go up

Restoring Nova Scotia's most famous icon is going to cost taxpayers $1.1 million more than expected.

The price tag to rebuild the Bluenose II has goneup to $15.9 million because changes were needed to make the ship safer.

The increased costs came after the ship building plans were reviewed by an international regulatory agency that has expertise in wooden shipbuilding.

To get their certification, the builders in Lunenburg had to make several changes to their plans.

For example, they must put in more steel re-enforcements in the ship's floor and more and longer bolts into the ship's keel, and that's added to the costs of materials and labour.

Project manager Craig Chisholm said it's all about building the safest ship possible.

Chisholm said all the plans for the Bluenose have now been reviewed and approved by the agency ,so he doesn't expect to see any more increases in the budget.

Originally the province had hoped construction would be completed by next spring, but the province said the Bluenose now won't be ready to sail until sometime next summer.

Last month, the whiskey plankwas attachedto Bluenose II, traditionally the last piece of lumber to be joined to the hull.