National Lighthouse Museum: Spring 99 Newsletter

Newsletter - Spring 1999

Architecture & artifacts merge to create a unique setting for a lighthouse showcase

A lot has happened since last July when the US Lighthouse Service Depot was selected as the site for the new National Lighthouse Museum.

Our first priority has been to get the vacant buildings stabilized so they won't deteriorate any further. They are historic structures, built by the US Lighthouse Service, and are as much a part of the museum collection as the artifacts they will hold. The architects and engineers have completed most of their studies and work is expected to begin this July. In the meantime, New York City has begun the process of rezoning the property to allow for museum, and related, functions.

At the same time we have had to establish ourselves as a New York State institution. We are now incorporated here and chartered as a not-for-profit organization. This is a critical first step which will allow us to enter into contracts, hire personnel and consultants, raise funds and carry out all of the activities required of the museum.

A bill granting us a Federal Charter as a National Museum has been submitted to Congress; we are hopeful that it will pass this session.

Five million dollars of public financing has been committed by our state and local officials, but we will need fifteen million more before the work is completed. We have applied for grants through our state and local governments and for private funds from foundations and banks. Memberships too, are an important source of support, especially for operating funds and we are very grateful to everyone who joins.

It will be a year or two before the first buildings can open, but even now, a new waterfront park winds through the site, offering a view of the harbor and a glimpse of the old historic buildings. In the meantime, our news letter will keep you updated on the progress of the museum and inform you of upcoming events that are being planned.

--Henry Stephenson

Navesink Twin Lights -- Bi-valve Lens Restored

Perched on a hill two hundred feet above the ocean at the entrance to New York Harbor in Highlands, New Jersey, is the Navesink Lighthouse, now know as Twin Lights State Historic Site. Operated by the New Jersey State Park Service, the historic light station housed one of the brightest beacons in the country. Reported to have produced a light of 25 million candlepower, the electrically-lit beacon was considered to be the most powerful in the United States, even in 1931 when it was reduced to 9 million candlepower.

The lens was made in France by Henry La Paute, and had originally been displayed at the Chicago's Columbian Exposition in 1893. The US Lighthouse Service purchased the optic, intending to install it at Fire Island Lighthouse, but after some debate decided to place it in the South Tower at Navesink instead. From 1898 until 1949, this great bi-valve lens (having two clam shell sections exactly alike) guided ships toward the coast of New Jersey and then north to the Sandy Hook Lighthouse and New York Harbor.

By 1954, the lightstation was abandoned, having been replaced by newer types of aids to navigation. The Coast Guard gave the lens to the Boston Museum of Science, where it remained on exhibit for twenty-five years.

The Twin Light Historical Society and New Jersey Park Service were able to have the historic optic returned to Navesink in 1979, and put it on display in the electric powerhouse building. A couple of young vandals got into the building in 1990 while the lens was unguarded and damaged several of the prisms. Since plans to restore the powerhouse were underway at the time, a decision was made to remove the lens from public display and investigate ways of restoring it.

It took Twin Lights curator and site manager Tom Laverty, many years of searching to find people who had the knowledge and skills to do lens restoration. Through contacts made during the National Lighthouse Museum selection process, he learned of a few individuals who had been working on classical lens around the country. On the coldest and snowiest week of January this year, a team of four volunteer experts flew to New Jersey to do the restoration. Joe Cocking, Chief Warrant Officer with the Coast Guard in Miami, Nick Johnston from Fort Macon Coast Guard in North Carolina, Jim Dunlap, curator of the Ponce Inlet Lighthouse, and Cullen Chambers, Director of the Tybee Island Lighthouse, were all part of the group. The lens was cleaned, prisms re-secured in the individual frames, a brace built for one of the broken pieces and the entire assemblage put back together.

The expert team of restorers did such a fantastic job that few visitors will notice the one missing prism that was too severely shattered to repair. Laverty, who is also President of the New Jersey Lighthouse Society, is still investigating sources to have the piece replicated. The spectacular lens is again housed in the powerhouse, but this time behind a new protective enclosure that replicates the Lantern room of the South Tower. Now at ground level, it can be viewed up close by the thousands of visitors to the historic lighthouse. The power house building was where the engines and dynamos operated that produced the electricity to light the lens. The building was constructed by the work force from the Staten Island Depot.

Laverty expects the lens, and new exhibits in the building to open to the public in June. For further information he may be contacted at 732-872-1814 or e-mail: curator@twin-lights.org.

Letter from Brendan

Welcome to our first edition of the National Lighthouse Museum newsletter and thank you for your support in this exciting undertaking.

We are creating a brand new center out of ten acres of vacant land and seven beautiful, but abandoned, historic buildings on the Upper Bay of New York Harbor, formerly the main depot and center of operations of the US Lighthouse Service. Old photos of the site show the classic Fresnel lenses being assembled and tested. Lightships and buoy tenders are tied up at the piers. The depot lighthouse, used for testing, training and experiments, stands in the main courtyard.

The new museum is to be much like that -- a busy place, full of people and activities. Tours to the dozens of New York lighthouses and other harbor attractions will leave from the museum pier. New exhibits will display lighthouses from around the world and tell the stories of the keepers, workers and their lives. And yes, we hope to bring back a lighthouse to the site, just as there was in those old photos.

The museum will also be a Center - a place to support the work of individuals and groups around the country who are interested in the preservation and restoration of these beautiful structures. The Center will support historical research, educational programs, publications, and all the programs and activities that will bring these wonderful structures and their great history to life for the public.

Meanwhile, we are asking everyone who loves lighthouses and their history to join us in this exciting effort. I hope we can count on your continuing support, moral and financial, as we go forward.

-Brendan Sexton

Lighthouse Museum Receives its Charter from New York State

In the flag-draped chambers of Borough Hall, with public officials and friends looking on, the National Lighthouse Museum board formally announced receipt of a charter granted by the Board of Regents of the State Education Department, the University of the State of New York. The charter, adopted by the Regents at the state capitol in Albany, formally designates the National Lighthouse Museum as a not-for-profit institution under the state Education Law. History will come full circle when the museum is built on the grounds of the former U.S. Lighthouse Services Depot, adjacent to the Ferry Terminal in St. George, Staten Island.

The state designation marks a milestone in the road the Friends of the Lighthouse Museum and New York Harbor Lights, a chapter of the US Lighthouse Society, have traveled since the idea to vie for the national designation was decided upon more than a year ago. After standing up to stiff competition from seventeen sites, and garnering substantial financial support from Gov. George Pataki and Borough President Guy Molinari, Staten Island was finally chosen, in July, by the National Lighthouse Society to be the place for its $20-million museum.

At the Charter ceremony, left to right, Lawrence J. De Maria, President and CEO Chamber of Commerce, Chris Benbow, NLM Attorney, Roberta Scott-Boatti, NLM Publicity Chair, Diane O. McGivern, Vice Chancellor, The University of the State of New York, Chan Graham, NLM, Brendan Sexton, President NLM, Frank Chaney, SI Director of Land Use, Henry Stephenson, Project Director NLM, and Judith Hoffman, First Vice President NLM.

Hosting the charter event, Borough President Molinari beamed with pride. "This is another very exciting step on the way to opening what will be the first museum of the new millennium in New York City," he said. "This state charter enables the National Lighthouse Museum to begin spending the money Governor Pataki, Mayor Giuliani and myself have allocated to begin the building process. In many ways, this charter represents the foundation before the foundation--and from here we will build a truly great museum."

The old Lighthouse Depot was the original headquarters of the Lighthouse Service and was the central node in a network that supported lighthouses and lighthouse operations around the country. The new museum will follow that model. The historic structures, built by the Lighthouse Service will be used to educate visitors who are unfamiliar with the Lighthouse Service and its history while serving as a contemporary source of information and support to lighthouse organizations around the country. Upon receiving the charter, Henry Stephenson, Project Director said: "With the charter now in place, and with the commitment of our public officials, we are now moving forward to begin the work of transforming these historic structures into an exciting new public attraction."

Christopher H. Benbow, Esq., counsel to the Museum said, "The approval by the Board of Regents empowers the center to enter into agreements and make applications necessary to secure its site on Staten Island. We now look forward to the granting of a federal charter, by Congress, in 1999."

The museum's 17-member Board of Directors is made up of lighthouse experts and preservationists from around the country. Brendan Sexton has been named president of the board.

Island Foundations Bank on Lighthouse

In foundation director Cesar Claro's words, "The Richmond County Savings Foundation views the National Lighthouse Museum as one of the most important initiatives for Staten Island. The impact this project will have on our tourism industry will greatly enhance our local economy."

Mr. Claro's comments were made during a ceremony, hosted by the Staten Island Chamber of Commerce, to announce museum grants totaling $100,000 from the Staten Island Savings Bank Community Foundation (SISBCF) and Richmond County Savings Foundation (RCSF). Elizabeth A. Dubovsky, SISBCF director, and Cesar J. Claro, RCSF director, presented symbolic $50,000 checks, on behalf of their respective foundations, to Henry Stephenson, director of the museum project.

"Our foundation," Ms. Dubovsky said, "is very pleased to support Henry Stephenson and New York Harbor Lights in the work to establish the National Lighthouse Center and Museum on Staten Island." Mr. Stephenson characterized the foundation grants as "absolutely critical". "We are very grateful." he said. "As a new organization at the very start of this project, this kind of support is what we need to get going." The $100,000 donation will provide the the initial monies for operations.