Lighthouse News

Jeld-Wen Windows needs your vote (voting closed) for one of twelve lighthouses to win new doors and windows. Previous winners were Wind Point Lighthouse in Wisconsin, Thomas Point Shoal in Maryland and Umpqua Lighthouse in Washington. They all received historically correct windows and doors for their respective restorations. This year, the twelve lighthouses in the runnning are:

When Well-Intentioned Repairs Go Awry

In July 2007, Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse in Maryland reopened to the public for tours after a challenging restoration. Challenging partly because of the location in Chesapeake Bay, but also challenging because of well-intentioned but misguided repairs while under the management of the Coast Guard. Adrienne DeRan, of Structural Preservation Services in Maryland, has written an article detailing the challenges of repairing the repairs in a recent issue of Associated Construction Publications.

Society Receives $15,000 Grant

Sometimes, the first step in restoration and preservation needs to be a totally unrelated one to the actual lighthouse. Such as gaining access to the lighthouse. A lot of our beacons have been built in hard to get at places, and such is the case with the Ashtabula (Ohio) Lighthouse. Although it’s connected to land, the only access is a rocky breakwall. That’s not conducive to hauling out paint, ladders, etc. So with that in mind, the first step the Ashtabula Lighthouse Restoration and Preservation Society is taking is to use the grant money to purchase and install a floating access dock and ramp.

Access to Lighthouse Temporarily Limited

The grounds at Split Rock Lighthouse near Beaver Bay, MN, perched high on a bluff overlooking mighty Lake Superior since 1910, will be closed from April 1 until May 15 (normal opening date) for a major makeover. Scaffolding and netting have already been erected around this most dramatic of lights in preparation for the work. The Minnesota Historical Society, manager of this beacon, estimates the entire project will be completed by mid-July.

Delimara Just Needs Bathrooms

The Delimara Lighthouse in Malta is nearing completion of the renovations started in 2006. All that’s left to do are the bathrooms. Oh, and the lantern mechanism. But it’s been an amazing accomplishment so far. The Malta Maritime Authority and Din L-Art Helwa (National Trust of Malta) have repaired the damage to the walls, the timber apertures, the roof and the lantern tower, including fresh paint. The photo below was taken before the work began. You can see how badly it looked.

The Most Expensive Rocks Anywhere

Our previous story was about New Point Comfort Lighthouse and the $750,000 rock job. Well, that pales in comparison to what it’s expected to cost at Montauk Point Lighthouse in New York to do almost the same thing. The full amount being budgeted for masonry work at the base of the lighthouse, and the revetment replacement that has helped stop erosion for the past 15 years? A cool $15 million dollars. The lighthouse will get $7.1 million from the federal government, $5.6 million from the state and about $2 million from the Montauk Historical Society, which owns and operates the lighthouse. The federal money is being appropriated as part of the 2007 Water Bill, which covers coastal projects, drainage and other water related items.

Good News For Two Lighthouses

Some lighthouse groups got some good news at year end for restoration efforts, unlike Bodie Island which lost its funding. At least two lighthouses were awarded grants for their restoration efforts.

Hereford Island Lighthouse

Hereford Inlet Lighthouse, New Jersey, an absolutely gorgeous lightstation located on Central Avenue in North Wildwood, will be funded for its final phase of restoration in 2008. This formerly inactive light, boarded up for 18 years, will receive a $330,000 federal transportation grant to repair the interior walls and install a new fire protection system and air conditioning. This will complete the restoration of this light, and everything from now on will be maintenance only.

Sixth Grader Picks Lost Lighthouse For Project

A lighthouse in Sea Isle City, New Jersey, decommissioned in 1924, sold for scrap after being damaged by a fire and multiple storms, has found an unlikely group of supporters in two middle school groups in Nashville, Tennessee. According to a story in the Press of Atlantic City, 12 year old Diana Branch, a sixth grader at Meigs Magnet Middle School was taking part in the recent New Jersey Lighthouse Challenge with her grandmother, and visited the former Ludlum Beach Lighthouse, now a six room summer rental unit that sits two blocks away from the ocean (photo below from www.lighthousefriends.com).

Volunteers Rebuild Engines

Volunteers with the Port Huron (Michigan) Museum this week have finished putting on the last tweaks to the engine that ran the 97 foot lightship’s electricity, according to a story in the Port Huron Times Herald. Next, the twin GM diesels that provided the boat’s propulsion are in their plans to rebuild to a running state. But the lightship isn’t going anywhere…it’s been landlocked for more than thirty years at Pine Grove Park. So why rebuild the engines to a running state? Easy, according to volunteer Chris Tabor. “(It’s important) just to have a display, even though we can’t make it go anywhere,” he said in the story. “It’s so much more if it’s a working museum.”

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.