following World War II the Cambridge Bay LORAN Tower was built near the previous location of Cambridge Bay. The construction of the LORAN tower involved hiring Inuit who, after the tower was complete, remained in the area. The tower was demolished 5 August 2014. In 1954 construction was completed on the Roman Catholic Church. The church, Cambridge Bay's first, was constructed from local material using seal oil and sand as mortar, and was used for services until the 1960s. On 27 April 2006, a large portion of the church, which had been designated a heritage site by the Hamlet Council, was destroyed by a fire which the RCMP said was deliberate. A Distant Early Warning Line site was established in 1955 and about 200 Inuit were hired to help in the construction. The military presence and the services and economy this represented acted as a magnet for Inuit who had previously used the area as a temporary site for meeting, hunting, fishing and trade, and a permanent community was soon established across the bay in its current location. Unlike the majority of the DEW Line radar sites which were abandoned or automated, this site which changed in 1989, known as CAM-MAIN, remains a manned operation, with about 18 people, as part of the North Warning System. Originally part of the Fort Smith Region, Northwest Territories, Cambridge Bay became the administrative centre for the Kitikmeot Region, Northwest Territories, and remained so for the new Kitikmeot Region after the 1999 division of the Northwest Territories. In 1982 a division plebiscite was held. Although about 80% of the population then living in what is now Nunavut voted in favour of division, Cambridge Bay was one of only two communities to vote against division. Kugluktuk, then called Coppermine, was the other. Geography Situated between Dease Strait and Queen Maud Gulf on the southeast coast of Victoria Island (Kitlineq), part of the Arctic Archipelago, Cambridge Bay is a transportation and administrative centre for the Kitikmeot Region. To the north of the community is Tahiryuaq (also spelt Tahikyoak and formerly Ferguson Lake) which flows into Wellington Bay via the Ekalluk River. The Ekalluk River is both an important commercial fishing and archaeological area, and of particular importance is the short section of the river known as Iqaluktuuq. About west of the community lie the Finlayson Islands which were surveyed by Sir Richard Collinson on board HMS