More than a year after hosting the 2025 Tall Ships Erie Festival, the Flagship Niagara League is facing mounting lawsuits over alleged unpaid bills.
Based on court documents, the non-profit has been sued at least three times since last year’s event.
Most recently, Creative Imprint Systems filed a lawsuit against the Flagship Niagara League, seeking more than $17,000 in unpaid bills for Tall Ships Erie merchandise.
Meanwhile, two separate judges also ruled for the Flagship Niagara League to pay more than $12,000 to Strategy Solutions Inc. consulting firm, and another $3,100 to Lake Erie Variety.
For nearly 14 years, the Flagship Niagara League was responsible for maintaining and sailing the U.S. Brig Niagara.
However, in 2024, the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission took over operations of the Brig.
According to Erie County Gaming Revenue Authority (ECGRA) Executive Director Perry Wood, since 2010, the Flagship Niagara League has been considered one of the county’s nine lead assets to receive funding from ECGRA.
“They are the nine largest non-profits in Erie County that contribute to tourism, economic development and of course, they are part of our identity as who we are as a community.” said Wood.
However, since the PHMC took over operations of the U.S. Brig Niagara, the Flagship Niagara League changed its mission to focus solely on maintaining the Lettie G. Howard and Tall Ships Erie.
“I think inevitably it was going to happen,” said Wood. “Organizations change. They evolve.”
After speaking with the Flagship Niagara League’s board of directors, Wood said both parties decided to decertify the Flagship Niagara League as a lead asset.
“Once you stop serving the mission for the reason we put you in the group, we begin the decertification process,” said Wood. “There were three things that we looked at. Number one, are you educating people about the Niagara? The answer was no. Number two, are you sailing the Niagara and maintaining it? The answer was no. And the third one was are you fundraising the Niagara? And the answer was no, so that was the basis of the decertification.”
Even though the Flagship Niagara League is being decertified, the non-profit can still apply for separate ECGRA grants to help fund its current mission.
“Even though the Flagship won’t be a lead asset anymore, they can still apply for other ECGRA grants that are available,” said Wood. “We look forward to seeing those applications.”
Erie News Now reached out to the Flagship Niagara League to get their side of the story. However, we have not heard back from them.
In full disclosure, the Flagship Niagara League owes Erie News Now for unpaid bills, after the station served as a main sponsor for Tall Ships Erie Fest 2025.