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The Florida Trust for Historic Preservation has recognized Florida’s 1859 Pensacola Lighthouse and Museum for its painstaking, nearly five-year $2.5 million restoration project, by awarding them their highest award: “Outstanding Performance in the Field of Restoration and Rehabilitation.”
Jon Hill, the executive director of the Pensacola Lighthouse and Museum, said “This was a monumental undertaking by a small organization, with absolutely no funding from the federal government.” The money was all raised through fundraising and grants.
When they started the restoration in 2013, they thought they would have to repair 30 of the stairs, but they ended up replacing 110 stairs. Hill said, “We digitally mapped the stairs that were there.” Today you can’t tell the difference between the old and the new stairs.
When the restoration work started, there were numerous cracks in the tower, some that you could put your fist into. The interior and the exterior of the tower were all fully repaired, restored, and painted.
When Jon Hill started work at the lighthouse over a decade ago, he was a volunteer who had to enlist the help of friends and family on cleanup efforts. Now he’s overseeing an award-winning first-class restored lighthouse. Congratulations to everyone involved on a job well done – one that will be appreciated for generations to follow.
Editor’s Note: To show the magnitude of the restoration work that was done on the Pensacola Lighthouse, we are sharing a number of photos of the work. (Photos courtesy Pensacola Lighthouse and Museum.)
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