The Pointe-au-Père Maritime Historic Site in Rimouski is unusual in that it takes visitors from ground level to the heights and then down into the ocean depths. Parcs Canada manages and operates the site, which offers visitors curiosities and thrills.
Martin Debolfe, the historic site’s marketing coordinator, explains that everything is in place to surprise and educate visitors through three distinct attractions:
• The Onondaga submarine, the first submarine in Canada opened to the public, offers a glimpse into the daily lives of the 70 crew members once confined aboard this 90-metre vessel. In summer, visitors can spend an evening and a night on board as part of an interactive experience.
• The lighthouse and its associated buildings. Built in 1909, it is the second-tallest lighthouse in Québec and one of the few that still has its prism. The keeper’s house contains an exhibition on the lighthouses of the Saint-Laurent.
• The Empress of Ireland Museum. Although the sinking of the Titanic is well known, fewer people know the story of this ocean liner, which sank off Rimouski in 14 minutes in 1914. The exhibition is impressive and moving, and its video presentation is surprising.
The museum opened in 2000, was expanded in 2017 and now features a completely redesigned exhibition. Digital technology allows for captivating interaction with visitors. A video simulation lets them relive the collision between the two ships and then watch the liner sink, which leaves no one indifferent, especially knowing that 1,102 people lost their lives in the disaster.
Pointe-au-Père Maritime Historic Site (SHMP)
shmp.qc.ca
1000, rue du Phare
Rimouski, QC G5M 1L8
418.724.6214