Who Will Save the Saviors?
By Sue Clark on Dec 1, 2007 in Threatened 
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“You have to go out, but you don’t have to come back” was the motto of the United States Lifesaving Service. A lot of people think of lighthouse keepers as lifesavers, and while I can’t say they haven’t performed their fair share of rescues, the real heroes of shipwreck rescues were the US Lifesaving Service. And now one more station is in danger of being lost forever. The Portsmouth Lifesaving Station, built in 1908 on Wood Island in Maine to replace the original from 1888 on Jerry’s Point in New Hampshire, has been subject to the weather, vandalism and the lack of interest of the group formed to preserve and protect it, the Wood Island Preservation Group.
The group was formed in 1993 in Kittery, ME, but has been inactive for the past few years. The remnants of the group are scheduled to present an update to the Town Council later this month on plans formulated over three years ago to turn the station into a museum. Dennis Estes, president and founder of the group, stated:
“The group has been “dormant” since it presented its museum plan to the council three and half years ago and failed to get unanimous support.
“For whatever reason, politics, lack of knowledge, questions were raised about what we were doing out there,” Estes said. “We sort of went to sleep (after that). Without the support of the council, the community, we couldn’t continue.”
The Lighthouse Preservation Society, based in Newburyport, Mass., was also involved with the Wood Island group at one point, working with the local group and bringing in an architect to draw up plans for the museum. The Lighthouse and Lifesaving Museum, according to the society’s vision, would have been “a launching pad for both land and water based tours of the lights” in Maine, Massachusetts and New Hampshire. The group stepped away from the project however, after encountering difficulties working with the local group.
James Hyland, president of the society, stated “There’s a fierce fortress mentality that communities have about their own lights. These lighthouses are community symbols.” Hyland added the Lighthouse Preservation Society would be interested in getting involved again, should the town “open that door.”
The Portsmouth LSS is the only one in Maine that is owned by a municipality (Kittery). Others were sold when the US Coast Guard absorbed the US LSS and turned into private homes or, in at least one instance, a resort. The town unfortunately considers it to be both an icon and a liability. Kittery Town Manager Jonathan Carr says “It is a controversial thing. But it’s out there in the water, so now what do you do?”
Let’s hope the proposed involvement of the American Lighthouse Foundation will kickstart the efforts to save the home of some of America’s Bravest.
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