St. Helena Island Light Station (MI) awarded $60,000 preservation grant
The historic St. Helena Island Light Station in Northern Michigan, just west of the Mackinac Bridge, will receive repairs and restoration from the Great Lakes Lighthouse Keepers Association with the help of a $60,000 Michigan Lighthouse Assistance Program grant from the Michigan State Historic Preservation Office, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation announced.
Restoration began in 1986 when the Great Lakes Lighthouse Keepers Association obtained a license from the U.S. Coast Guard to restore the light station. Today, St. Helena has largely been restored to its turn of the 20th century appearance, but maintenance work is ongoing, due to age and exposure to the elements.
With the 2020 Michigan Lighthouse Assistance Program grant, GLLKA will hire contractors to remove all existing paint from the lighthouse tower, replace deteriorated mortar and brick, clean all masonry and stone surfaces, replace sealant around openings, rehabilitate the lantern to be watertight, and repaint the entire tower.
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Improvements at Watch Hill Light Station (RI)
The U.S. Coast Guard is nearing completion on a remediation effort designed to remove lead from the soil surrounding the Watch Hill Light Station in Westerly, Rhode Island. The Watch Hill Lighthouse Keepers Association, which runs, maintains and preserves the lighthouse, piggybacked on the Coast Guard project to perform “some much-needed repairs,” said Ann Snowden Johnson, president of the association.
The work involved repaving a driveway adjacent to the lighthouse, sidewalk replacement, and construction of a new small outdoor terrace gathering area.
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Fort Williams Park in Cape Elizabeth, Maine, home to Portland Head Lighthouse, reopening on June 1
Portland Head Lighthouse in Cape Elizabeth, Maine, located inside Fort Williams Park, is probably the most visited lighthouse in the world with well over one million visitors per year. After being closed for some time due to concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic, the park is reopening on Monday, June 1, with half of the parking spaces available. The Museum at Portland Head Light remains closed for now.
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Door County Lighthouse Festival (WI) is ON
The Spring Door County Lighthouse Festival appears set to shine on as planned from June 12 to 14, with recommendations for social distancing and other precautions.
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U.S. Lighthouse Society News is produced by the U.S. Lighthouse Society to support lighthouse preservation, history, education and research.
If you have items of interest to the lighthouse community and its supporters, please email them to Jeremy at Jeremy@uslhs.org
Jeremy D’Entremont is the author of more than 20 books and hundreds of articles on lighthouses and maritime history. He is the president and historian for the American Lighthouse Foundation and founder of Friends of Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouses, and he has lectured and narrated cruises throughout the Northeast and in other regions. He is also the producer and host of the U.S. Lighthouse Society podcast, “Light Hearted.” He can be emailed at Jeremy@uslhs.org