The Flamborough Head may yet have a future on the North Vancouver waterfront.
After first voting in-camera to scrap it, council reversed course this week and ordered up a report on how much it will cost to save the stern.
While nothing has been decided, a public discussion of the issues is a step in the right direction. Without knowing more about the safety issues that justified the in-camera discussion, we're not persuaded it was in the public interest to keep us in the dark.
But this is a small and possibly short-lived victory for the Victory ship's advocates as no one is under the delusion saving the stern will come cheap.
Convincing council it belongs on the waterfront is one thing. Convincing council to pay for it is another.
With at least $500,000 already spent on the stern that was only ever intended to be part of a now-defunct museum, and little appetite on council to spend more, it's going to be incumbent on the heritage advocates to get out and find well-heeled sponsors who may have an interest in helping out.
Unfortunately, this is the new norm when it comes to community groups coming hat-in-hand to local governments.
Seaspan is enjoying boom times again thanks to billions in federal contracts, and Port Metro Vancouver may see this as an opportunity to mend fences after two rocky years with its city neighbours.
This task would be easier, however, if council had opted to reach out for ideas or at least air their discussion in September, rather than waiting for word to trickle out and launch a small revolt.
