Editor’s Note: This story was published July of 2020 and is provided for background information. The lighthouse is now open its regular hours.
Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
The first thing I noticed was how white and clean it all looked. Up against a long overdue summer blue sky, the freshly-painted stucco of the Admiralty Head Lighthouse was a beautiful contrast. Add in the freshly-painted red metal roof and the lighthouse looked ready again to meet its public.
Gone was the scaffolding that had hidden the lighthouse during its seven-month restoration. The construction fence would soon go away as well.
When will the grand re-opening happen? “Soon” was all Lighthouse Program Specialist Sharon Young-Hale would say, explaining, “The contractors still have a punch list of projects.”
Still some work
She pointed to the top of the lighthouse tower and noted the ball on the tower roof would be put back in place in the next few days. The lighthouse was closed in January and contractors have until August to complete their work. The COVID-19 pandemic slowed them for just a week until they could get a special exemption to continue, so they’re able to make deadline.
I was getting an early preview of the renovation. Literally from top to bottom, the lighthouse has been given a thorough fix-up worthy of any historic building. It has been ten years since any serous work had been done on the building, and this full-blown project was overdue.
At this point the lighthouse is expected to open in late July or early August.
From stairs to windows
Rehabilitating the spiral staircase to the light was one of the more difficult tasks. Two metal beams that support the stairs had to be replaced, and one had to be pulled out through the tower’s exterior walls. In addition, the exterior walkway around the top of the tower had been restored and polished so that it now glistened in the morning sun.
Masonry, both outside and inside the historic structure needed repair before any painting could start.
Contractors also refurbished the windows throughout the building, giving the entire structure new protection against the elements.
Downstairs, walls had been repaired and repainted and new flooring gives modern protection without detracting from the overall historic look.
Refreshing an old look
But the focus of downstairs is the reemergence of beautiful wooden pocket doors between the Sitting Room and the Main Room. Only one door is original. The other was in pieces and a new door styled like the 100+ year-old original has replaced the original.
In room after room downstairs, everything is bright paint shiny new. But, the lighthouse charm from another era still shows through as much as ever.
As if to underscore that there’s still work to do, a workman starts on something in the tower and the metallic shriek grinds any conversation to a halt.
In addition, with the exception of the giant lighthouse lenses, the rooms are mostly still empty. The room for the gift shop, usually stuffed with lighthouse-related merchandise, is bare-bones empty.
When the lighthouse does open, there will, of course, be new social distancing rules. The most significant is that because of the cramped space, the tower is closed. But the lens exhibit and other exhibit information will be ready to go, and visitors will again be able to visit this landmark.
