Storm Brewing At Wind Point Lighthouse
By Sue Clark on Dec 11, 2007 in Opinion 
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Not Enough Parking
Some neighbors of Wind Point Lighthouse near Racine, Wisconsin, are up in arms over the city’s proposal to build a paved turnaround near their beloved lighthouse. The Journal Times has posted a story about the efforts of some of the nearby residents of Wind Point to stop these plans from going forward.
The problem seems to be that there are only eight parking spaces, and buses bringing in school children and wedding parties have no place to turn around, or even to park. Also, the village council uses the area around the lighthouse for their municipal court and council meetings.
An Ad Hoc Facilities Management Committee has been formed to address these issues, and to come up with some sort of plan. Three solutions, presented by a consulting firm, Genesis Architecture, have already been rejected earlier this fall. The Committee will be meeting again in January to look at further approaches. The village board has already approved setting limits on how many people can be at the lighthouse at one time (150) and has increased the usage fees.” What we are trying to do is find the best way to preserve the property,” said Trustee Casey Jones, the committee chairman. “We have certain issues that we need to resolve.”
Don’t Take Our View
In the meantime, one of the residents, Judy Renquist, is upset that the committee is considering “land use west of the lighthouse for anything other than protecting an unobstructed view of this majestic, historic icon,” she wrote in a letter to the editor. “The lighthouse,” she continues, “should not be promoted as an entertainment environment attracting large crowds but rather revered as an aesthetic and educational site open to larger groups on special occasions.”
Bruce Renquist, Judy’s husband, said that he is concerned that the promotion of the lighthouse is the cause of the congestion. “They are saying that they need all of these facilities because we are going to have all of these people,” Renquist said, noting that the village books events at the lighthouse on three weekends a month in the spring, summer and fall. “You won’t have the people if you didn’t invite them in those great numbers.”
Whose Lighthouse Is It Anyway?
Hmmm. It seems to me that a lighthouse, although owned by the village of Wind Point, is the property of everyone. Part of the Lighthouse Act requires the receiving municipality or non-profit group to make the property available to everyone, not just a few whose view of it might be obstructed by a bus full of excited children learning about our maritime history. It’s like those who opposed building wind turbines here in Maine because it will interfere with their view.
What do you think? Should the village go ahead with increasing access to Wind Point? Or should they cater to the few whose view of this historic icon might be compromised?
Photo credit:
Wind Point Lighthouse during a storm by James Jordan.
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