Page 8. MAINE COASTAL NEWS July 2012 Waterfront News
Three Maine Lighthouses Up For Grabs Under the guidelines of the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act (NHLPA) three of Maine’s historic lighthouses are now up for grabs and may soon get new owners.
Boon Island Lighthouse, Maine’s tallest lighthouse, approximately nine miles off the coast of York, and Halfway Rock Lighthouse in Casco Bay, within easy viewing from Bailey’s Island, are being offered for free, on a competing basis, to any qualified nonprofit or government entity. In 2000, Boon Island Lighthouse and Halfway Rock lighthouses were both licensed by the United States Coast Guard to the nonprofit American Lighthouse Foundation of Rockland. However, now that the structures have been declared as excess property, any nonprofit or local community group can apply for ownership of the towers. The final decision as to whom is qualified, or not, for the long term care of an historic lighthouse ultimately rests with the federal government. Such is the case when, earlier this year, the government rejected the application by the nonprofit Keepers of
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Moose Peak Light, for ownership of the Moose Peak Lighthouse on Mistake Island off the coast of Jonesport, which, according to Tim Harrison of Lighthouse Digest, “came as a shocking disapointment to many lighthouse preservationists.” Larry Finnegan, president of the Keepers of Moose Peak Light said the government apparently wanted them to have $50,000 to $100,000 in the bank, and the group was unable to raise that kind of money, especially since they didn’t know if they would even obtain ownership of the lighthouse. Under the NHLPA if no qualified applicant comes forward, or if an applicant is deemed unsuitable by the government, then the law allows the General Services Administration (GSA) the right to auction Boon Island Lighthouse and/or Halfway Rock Lighthouse to the highest bidder, as is now being done with Moose Peak Lighthouse in an on-line GSA auction that is expected to start on June 4.
Owning a lighthouse can be an expensive undertaking and any new owner will be required by the deed to maintain the historical integrity of the lighthouse and
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grant the Coast Guard a right of way to maintain the beacon in the tower. “The cost of maintaining a historic lighthouse, especially one such as Halfway Rock Lighthouse that is out in the water can be extremely expensive, and in some circumstances, dangerous,” said Harrison. That may be the justification used by Maine Preservation in 2004 when they declared Halfway Rock Lighthouse as one of Maine’s Most Endangered Historic Properties. Harrison said he can understand why some communities have already backed away from taking ownership of a lighthouse such as Halfway Rock, especially in these economic times.
The American Lighthouse Foundation has not yet reached a decision on whether they might apply for ownership of the Boon Island or Halfway Rock lighthouses. The group already owns a number of lighthouses and manages others. They are also currently involved in a number of expensive restoration projects, all of which will require raising a great deal of money.
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“Although I would prefer to see a lighthouse be owned by a nonprofit or local community, sometimes, especially with offshore lighthouses, the best alternative is private ownership, where a person would have a vested interest, as well as deep pockets, as was the case with Ram Island Ledge Lighthouse in Portland Harbor,” said Harrison. Although the American Lighthouse Foundation was granted a Coast Guard license for Ram Island Ledge Lighthouse in October of 2005, the organization declined to apply for ownership and it was eventually auctioned off by GSA and sold in September of 2010 to a private individual for $190,000. However, Harrison believes that the situation for Boon Island Lighthouse might be different. “Personally, I’d like to see Boon Island Lighthouse owned by the Town of York, the Town of Kittery, or the American Lighthouse Foundation. Perhaps they could work out a joint ownership agreement that would be beneficial to all. Let’s face it, Boon Island Lighthouse, with its granite tower, has been standing sturdy for 180 years and
it will probably stand for another 180 years or more. Although access to the island might be difficult, families lived out there for over 100 years and Coast Guard keepers lived there after that. The only real maintenance is with the lantern room and perhaps the inside stairway. Plus, the publicity from owning Maine’s tallest lighthouse with its storied history of shipwrecks, cannibalism, ghosts, bravery, and mystery, could be a big plus for whoever owns it.
Maine is not the only state where the GSA is offering lighthouses up for adoption. Other lighthouses currently being offered up for adoption under the NHLPA are: Butler Flats, Edgartown and Graves lighthouses in Massachusetts; Fourteen Foot Shoals, Ontonagon West Pierhead, Manistique, and Stannard Rock lighthouses in Michigan; Ashland Lighthouse in Wisconsin, and Point Fermin Lighthouse in California. Any eligible entity with an interest in acquiring any of the lighthouses being offered up for adoption needs to submit a letter of interest to the GSA by July 16, 2102. For more information on the lighthouses being offered up for adoption and the pertinent information in applying, you can visit the GSA web site at https://
extportal.pbs.gsa.gov/ResourceCenter/ viewproperties.do?noticetype=4
Lighthouse Digest Celebrates 20 Years of Saving Lighthouse History Lighthouse Digest, the Maine based lighthouse news and history magazine that started with only thirty-four paid subscribers, is celebrating twenty years of publishing this year. Started in 1992 by lighthouse enthusiasts Timothy Harrison and Kathleen Finnegan, Lighthouse Digest is now a widely respected publication with subscribers in all fifty states and seventeen countries.
Harrison said he attributes the magazine’s success to the wide mix of stories that can be found in each issue. “Although our primary goal is to rediscover and report on lost or forgotten aspects of lighthouse history, we also give wide coverage to the modern happenings at lighthouses, such as lighthouse restoration projects, lighthouse tours, and special events. The magazine also publishes the Lighthouse Digest Doomsday List of Endangered Lighthouses, which has helped draw attention to the saving of a number of lighthouses.”
“We started out as a newspaper print style publication and evolved several times over the years to the full color magazine that we are today,” said Finnegan. “But we still have to work just as hard at finding new subscribers today, as we did then. We’d like to think that after twenty years everyone would know about us, but that’s not the
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