Maine’s Pemaquid Point Lighthouse may be 175 years old in 2010, but you sure wouldn’t know it by looking at the venerable beacon following the completion of Phase II restoration by the American Lighthouse Foundation and its local chapter, Friends of Pemaquid Point Lighthouse.
The historic light tower, which graces the Maine State quarter, underwent a complete interior restoration over a period of ten weeks from mid-March 2010 to Memorial Day.
The American Lighthouse Foundation contracted the $84,000 project to J.B. Leslie Company, Inc., of South Berwick, Maine, the same company who worked with ALF on the award-winning Phase I restoration of the tower’s exterior in 2007.
From the moment a visitor enters the tower this year, everything will appear like it is ready for a bygone U.S. Lighthouse Service “white glove” inspection.
The light tower’s entryway building has been repainted on the inside, the interior brick cylinder has been cleaned and re-pointed, the staircase repainted, the window jambs re-plastered, the lantern parapet’s wainscoting restored and the brass vents that adorn the wainscoting returned to working order and polished.
In addition, J.B. Leslie Company also restored the exterior of the entryway building, rehabilitated the ironwork on the lantern’s exterior, including the railing systems, and recoated the exterior of the lighthouse.
Phase II restoration was funded by the American Lighthouse Foundation through a FY09 Federal appropriation in the amount of $380,000, which was sponsored by U.S. Senator Susan M. Collins. The remaining funds from this appropriation are being utilized in 2010 to restore Maine’s Owls Head Lighthouse and the exterior of the keeper’s house at Wood Island Light Station.
The lighthouse is now open seven days a week until Columbus Day and the Friends of Pemaquid Point Lighthouse hope that you’ll stop by the next time you visit Maine.
To learn more about the American Lighthouse Foundation and the Friends of Pemaquid Point Lighthouse, visit www.LighthouseFoundation.org.
This story appeared in the
July 2010 edition of Lighthouse Digest Magazine. The print edition contains more stories than our internet edition, and each story generally contains more photographs - often many more - in the print edition. For subscription information about the print edition, click here.
All contents copyright © 1995-2024 by Lighthouse Digest®, Inc. No story, photograph, or any other item on this website may be reprinted or reproduced without the express permission of Lighthouse Digest. For contact information, click here.
|