Restoration News
May 2024 Update
It has been a while since we’ve had the opportunity to give good news on the Lighthouse restoration front. As of fiscal 2023, former County Legislator Bridget Fleming was able to appropriate $4 million in funding from the Suffolk County Budget to be used over the next several years. According to Lee Skolnick, the Architect in charge of the project, the scope of the work is limited to historic preservation – the result would be a restored shell of the building. There is no allocation for interior work. Once the exterior is done, the Lantern can be returned to the top of the structure and the interior work can proceed with proper funding, donations, and grants. There is significant interest in converting the Lighthouse to a more public use. Discussions have been held with the East Hampton Historical Society regarding some strategies where they could run the location as a cultural and educational historic site. The Lantern, which was restored in 2014, resides at The Sag Harbor Yacht yard. Recently, Bettina Stelle, Curator of the Sag Harbor Whaling Museum, reached out to us about displaying the Lantern at the Museum for a summer event in August and September 2024 featuring 3 Long Island Lighthouses…Montauk, Orient Bug Light, and Cedar Island. We’re excited to be asked to be a part of this event. More details to follow in the coming weeks.
Restoration Update – June 2016
Suffolk County has appropriated and the Legislature approved $300,000 to replace the roof on the lighthouse.
The County is in the process of engaging a firm to design and plan the process. The new roof will hopefully be installed in 2017. The County also plans to replace the windows and doors and repair the masonry so as to complete the exterior renovation. The lantern, which we have already restored, will be reinstalled atop the lighthouse when the new roof is completed. Until then, the lantern will remain at the Sag Harbor Yacht Yard on Bay Street in Sag Harbor.
Since Suffolk County is focused on the restoration of the exterior of the Lighthouse, we are focusing on the interior which was totally destroyed by a fire in 1974. We will shortly be selecting an architect to design the interior which will essentially replicate the original layout. We will be applying for a grant from New York State to fund the planning.
On the fundraising front, we will shortly be sending a communication requesting donations to every resident in the Sag Harbor zip code. If that is successful, we will mail to all the residents in East Hampton.
We are also applying for a New York State Historic Preservation Grant to fund the cost of preparing architectural and construction plans for the interior of the lighthouse. The rehabilitated interior will contain a living room, kitchen and keeper’s quarters on the first floor . The second floor will contain two bedrooms plus a museum room.