Lorain’s Lighthouse Lens Lost and Found
By Sue Clark on Dec 29, 2007 in Featured 
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Who Owns This Lens?
A long-standing dispute that’s not a dispute over the ownership of a Fourth Order fresnel lens came to light recently when Ohio’s Lorain Lighthouse again requested the return of their lens from the Charlotte-Genesee Lighthouse in New York. “I wouldn’t call it a dispute,” said Richard Novak, executive director for the Lorain Port Authority. “We just feel that it would be nice to have the lens come home.”
So how did this happen? Who “stole” what and when? Well, when Lorain’s lighthouse was deactivated in 1966, its Fresnel lens was removed by the Coast Guard and stored in a warehouse. At least it wasn’t destroyed like so many others were. But then along comes the Charlotte-Genesee Lighthouse whose light had been deactivated in the early 1880s and lens was moved to a museum. The latest tower, decommissioned in the 1930s, was beheaded. It was eventually acquired by Monroe County and the Charlotte-Genesee Lighthouse Historical Society, who planned to rebuild the historic light.
A Lens Was Needed
Since the original Fresnel lens in the old tower was moved to the replacement at the end of a pier, the Society needed a lens to replace the lost one in 1983. Purchasing a new one is cost prohibitive (actually they’re not made anymore and it would have to be a plastic lens), so they asked the Coast Guard if there was any chance they could find an unused one. Lo and behold, the one from Lorain was found and sent over to New York.
In the meantime the old lighthouse in Lorain, deactivated in 1966 and replaced with a skeletal tower, was acquired by the Lorain Port Authority in the 1990s for renovations. But there’s a problem. Where’s the lens?
It’s Only On Loan, Says Lorain
When it was found out what had happened to the lens, the Authority requested the return of the Fresnel from Charlotte Genesee. Dave Kramer, a volunteer with the Lorain Lighthouse Foundation, stated in a story from the Chronicle Telegram, “The people in New York didn’t set out to get the Lorain lens. They just set out to get a lens.” He also stated the Charlotte-Genesee Lighthouse doesn’t own the lens, but rather it is on loan from the Coast Guard, which inherited ownership of the lens when it took over the lighthouse in 1939.
So Why Don’t They Give It Back?
Over the years, there has been discussion with the group in New York, but it has gone nowhere. The only hope for Lorain to get the lens back is through the Coast Guard, which technically owns the lens, returning it when the lease between the New York group and Coast Guard runs out. Steve Luca, Chairman of the Board for the Lorain Lighthouse Foundation, says, “What we are trying to do is get the lens back in where it belongs, because it’s always been here. All we want is to get the lens back in Lorain.”
Photo Credits:
- Charlotte-Genesee Lighthouse at Night by Joseph P. Gill. Some rights reserved.
- Lorain Lighthouse by Ronnie44502. Some rights reserved.
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