New Lantern For Piedras Blancas
By Sue Clark on Nov 1, 2007 in Restoration 
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Another beheaded lighthouse, this one in San Luis Obispo County, will possibly be getting its lantern room back in the future according to a story on San Luis Obispo County’s website. Piedras Blancas Lightstation, which had its lantern room removed by the Coast Guard after being damaged in an earthquake in 1949, had a restoration plan signed by the Piedras Blanca Lightstation Society and the Bureau of Land Management at a meeting October 24.
This 118 page document outlines the future of the site, which is owned by the BLM, with preferred actions and alternatives for everything from replacing the lighthouse lantern room, and restoring other historic structures, to providing parking and preventing shoreline erosion. Currently, the station is open for tours on the third Saturday of the month, but plans are underway to increase these dates as restoration takes place.
After the lantern room with its First Order Double Bivalve Fresnel lens was removed and placed in Cambria, a 36 inch with a rotating aero beacon was installed, which cast a beam out 18 miles to sea. It failed in 1999, at which time the Coast Guard replaced it with a smaller beacon, visible for only 10 miles. Residents were unhappy with the smaller light, but the Coast Guard stated it wasn’’t needed, due to technological advancements. The original Keeper’s house at the site was torn down in 1960 and replaced with the current stucco buildings.
The lens is currently housed in a special display in Cambria (photo at left), but will hopefully be returned to its original home when the lantern room is rebuilt. Jim Boucher, site manager for the lighthouse, estimates it will take $12 million to bring the lighthouse back to its Victorian era beauty. This plan has been in the works for years, but volunteers have already been working on the site. The story has a lovely photo of the restored interior of the tower (beautiful wooden spiral stairs), and mentions the work volunteers have done pulling invasive plants and reseeding the site with native vegetaion.
Kudos to the Bureau of Land Management and the volunteers for seeking to restore such a beautiful lighthouse.
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