Steveston's "half-forgotten" mini-castle wasn't built for humans. Rather, it was built for the local swans in the city.
Talk about royalty.
Richmond resident Leighton Matthews posted on his Twitter account @StevestonShips to ask what the odd, half-sunken castle was and what it was doing in the water near the Steveston Harbour.
"What IS this and where did it come from?," said Matthews in his tweet.
The structure, at the southeast end of Steveston Harbour, was built by a former maintenance employee several years ago, according to Stephen Barnett, executive assistant at the Steveston Harbour Authority (SHA).
"This is actually the first time in a long time that someone has mentioned the little castle, I think it was half-forgotten," said Barnett.
"It's a mini castle that was built just for fun, the idea was to anchor it out in the channel and see if any of the swans in the area would use it as a little house."
Unfortunately, the swans didn't seem to ever take up residence.
The "castle" has since tipped over due to a problem with the flotation devices underneath it, explained Barnett.
While it would "not be an easy feat" to fix the castle without inspecting up close, it would be nice to see it floating properly again, he added.
"Depending on the condition of the castle and floats, it could possible require some sort of crane to dislodge it or maybe it could simply be done at low tide with people physically standing in the mud."
It is not a big priority for the SHA at the moment, said Barnett, but if there are plans to fix the castle, it would likely be in the winter when it is less busy for the maintenance crew.
