{"id":107790,"date":"2026-02-07T09:48:36","date_gmt":"2026-02-07T09:48:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/107790\/"},"modified":"2026-02-07T09:48:36","modified_gmt":"2026-02-07T09:48:36","slug":"sen-dan-laughlin-provides-update-on-niagara-pens-letter-to-workers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/107790\/","title":{"rendered":"Sen. Dan Laughlin provides update on Niagara, pens letter to workers"},"content":{"rendered":"

(WJET\/WFXP)\u2013 While the US Brig Niagara continues to undergo maintenance to be ready for Erie\u2019s celebration of our nation\u2019s 250th anniversary, State Senator Dan Laughlin provided an update on the ship and penned an open letter thanking everyone who currently works on and previously worked on her.<\/p>\n

Since departing the shores of Erie for shipyard, the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission said the repairs are about 69% of the way done, with most of the work on the ship going into carpentry.<\/p>\n

PHMC plans to have the Niagara ready for July, announces US\u2019 250th anniversary plans <\/a><\/p>\n

In his letter, Laughlin thanked the members of the Flagship Niagara League, volunteers from the Erie Maritime Museum, along with all of the people who are currently working on the Niagara, along with anyone who has worked on her in the past, saying their dedication has resulted in the best case scenario for the ship.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause of the dedication, care, and foresight shown by those who have maintained Niagara year after year, we are operating in what can truly be described as a best-case scenario for repairs. Without that long-term commitment, the condition of this vessel today could have been far worse. That reality makes the progress we are seeing not only impressive, but truly outstanding news,\u201d the letter reads.<\/p>\n

The US Brig Niagara has been undergoing renovations in Boothbay Harbor, Maine, since September 2025 and has not sailed since losing its propeller in 2023, cutting its season short.<\/p>\n

As far as the details on how repairs are going, Laughlin posted the graphic below from the PHMC detailing what kind of repair work went into repairing the Niagara and how much it needed.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Brig Niagara undergoing renovations, anticipated to make return for July 4 holiday <\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cTo everyone involved, from leadership and planners to historians, engineers, crew members, volunteers, and the skilled shipwrights and carpenters doing the hands-on work, thank you. Your efforts, from the top down, have ensured that Niagara remains strong enough to carry her history forward,\u201d Laughlin said in the letter.<\/p>\n

As a result of their hard work, Laughlin said the Niagara is still on track to leave the Maine shipyard and return to Erie\u2019s harbor, where he said the ship belongs, by spring of this year. You can read the full letter online here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJET\/WFXP\/YourErie.com. <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"(WJET\/WFXP)\u2013 While the US Brig Niagara continues to undergo maintenance to be ready for Erie\u2019s celebration of our…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":107791,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[51816,136,138,28528,137,35858,51817],"class_list":["post-107790","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-erie","tag-dan-laughlin","tag-erie","tag-erie-headlines","tag-erie-maritime-museum","tag-erie-news","tag-pennsylvania-historical-and-museum-commission","tag-us-brig-niagara"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107790","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=107790"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107790\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/107791"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=107790"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=107790"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=107790"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}