Digest>Archives> Sep/Oct 2014

The Noble Crew Saving Robbins Reef Lighthouse

By Megan Beck

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Heading out to Robbins Reef on a Miller’s Launch ...
Photo by: Michael Falco

By Megan Beck

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Volunteers head out for the first crew date on a ...
Photo by: Peter Yuschak

Curator, The Noble Maritime Collection

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Miller’s launch boat, the Julia, tied up at the ...
Photo by: Brian DeForest

Since The Noble Maritime Collection took on the restoration of New York’s Robbins Reef Lighthouse in 2011, the Staten Island community has responded to the project with tremendous support. Volunteers have donated their time and talent, and the maritime industry has donated materials, equipment, and transport, the value of which is approaching over one million dollars.

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The platform donated by the Reicon Group and ...
Photo by: Brian DeForest

“When I first took a look at it, it seemed like a manageable project,” commented Erin Urban, the museum’s director. “After all, volunteers restored what was a derelict 28,500 square foot National Historic Landmark at old Sailors’ Snug Harbor, and the lighthouse is tiny in comparison.

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After Hurricane Sandy, Miller’s Launch donated ...
Photo by: Brian DeForest

“One thing, however, did not occur to me, and that is that every effort we made would involve traveling across the harbor. Robbins Reef is located in New York Bay one mile off Staten Island’s North Shore, at the mouth of the Kill van Kull, one of the world’s busiest waterways. Transporting people, materials, and equipment is a formidable thing. But thanks to the museum’s Trustees in the Staten Island maritime industry, we have been able to address the restoration in a slow but steady and progressive way.”

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The completed sub-floor at Robbins Reef ...

Robbins Reef Lighthouse represents the museum’s commitment to preserving New York Harbor history, as well as to presenting a historically significant site on the North Shore of Staten Island, in St. George, to the local population and the larger international community that, in light of upcoming development plans, will frequent the new attractions in St. George. The New York Wheel is coming to Staten Island, and it will attract a huge number of visitors. People will be able to watch the glorious nightly light shows at the Wheel from the best vantage point in the Harbor—Robbins Reef.

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Volunteers painted the cast iron and brick walls ...

The focus of the project is Catherine Walker (1847-1931), the indomitable keeper who single-handedly operated the lighthouse in the days before electricity. Paid $600 per year, she is famous on Staten Island for raising her two children, Jacob and Mary, at the lighthouse and transporting them to Staten Island for school in her dory. In 1886, her husband died of pneumonia, but his last words to his wife were “Mind the light, Kate,” and she heeded them and remained at Robbins Reef for 33 years. In the course of her tenure, from 1886 until 1919, she rescued 50 people.

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The completed new floor at Robbins Reef ...

The Noble Maritime Collection was blessed with an exceptional eight-year volunteer effort, from 1992 until 2000, to restore its landmark home at Snug Harbor. As they did then, volunteers, coupled with the maritime community and the New York Wheel, will take on the lion’s share of the Robbins Reef restoration.

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Glen Miller stands by the new ladder from the ...
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Museum Trustee Glen Miller, proprietor of Miller’s Launch, a major New York Harbor tug and barge firm, provides a launch boat each time volunteers go out. Moreover, he has donated the services of the crews who run his tugs, barges, cranes, excavators, and all manner of equipment to the project.

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Jeff Wollman and lighting designer Chris Steffens ...
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Trustee Jeff Wollman of The Reicon Group, the construction arm of Reinauer Transportation, runs the major jobs. When access to the lighthouse consisted of a small steel ladder only partially attached to the caisson top, he donated a 6’ x 8’ platform at which to tie up and a decent ladder. Trustee Steve Kalil of Caddell Dry Dock and Repair Company made a fiberglass top for the platform. Its installation alone required two full days of volunteering from six men from Reicon, as well as a tug, barge, and 135’ crane. Even after their first 10-hour day at the lighthouse, Wollman and his crew were eager to get back out and do more.

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Repair of the caisson of Robbins Reef Lighthouse. ...
Photo by: Damon Urban

Early on they helped confirm our belief, and Kate Walker’s, that the lighthouse is a magical place.

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Glen Miller, center, clearing the caisson top at ...
Photo by: Damon Urban

After Hurricane Sandy, the New York Landmarks Conservancy provided matching funds with which to make repairs. A 24-foot wave hit the back door of the lighthouse and destroyed it, and it ruined the first floor and even dislodged the granite steps at the front door. All of the museum’s equipment was destroyed. After volunteers removed the debris and ruined equipment, the local restoration crew from Island Housewrights, with a barge, dumpster, crane and bucket donated by Glen Miller who had been volunteering at the site, installed a new floor.

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Clearing the top of the caisson at Robbins Reef ...
Photo by: Damon Urban

This year’s efforts at the lighthouse focus on preparing to replace the canopy that was there during Kate Walker’s time. In the lighthouse’s various incarnations—when, for example, it had an outside toilet and shower—the caisson had been tiled over in certain areas, and it had to be leveled so that the canopy could be installed. Twelve volunteers went out with a barge, skip bucket, dumpster, excavator, jackhammers, compressors, buckets, shovels, and brooms, and within three hours the work was done. Flag Container Company donated the dumpster and hauled away the debris. The leveling of the caisson was a priority because Rich Marin of the New York Wheel offered to provide solar panels to power interior and exterior lighting in return for placing a web camera atop the lighthouse to film the construction and operation of the largest observation wheel in the world, slated to open in 2016. Steve Kalil is designing a structure, based on photographs of the outside canopy Kate enjoyed, to hold the 34 solar panels. For the first time in over 50 years, the lighthouse will be visible at night from across the Harbor. As the work offshore proceeds, the museum’s staff continues to study the history of the lighthouse, from when it was originally constructed in 1839, through the days when it was run manually by keepers, to the present, when it is still an important aid to navigation. Its light, which flashes every 6 seconds, is maintained by the US Coast Guard. In June 2015, the Noble Maritime Collection will present an exhibition at the museum about Kate Walker and the restoration project. Kate’s great-great granddaughter, who happens to be the spitting image of the famous keeper (4’ 10”, eyes of blue, and golden hair) brought a treasure trove of family photographs and documents, including some in Kate’s own hand, and they will be featured along with an in-depth look at the volunteer effort. Editor’s Note: To learn more about the extraordinary life of lighthouse keeper Kate Walker, please refer to the story “Kate Would Be Proud” that appeared in the March/April 2011 edition of Lighthouse Digest. The story can also be found in the on-line archives at www.LighthouseDigest.com. To learn more about the Noble Maritime Collection, go to www.NobleMaritime.org.

This story appeared in the Sep/Oct 2014 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.

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