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American Lighthouse Foundation, Inc.
P.O. Box 565
Rockland,
Maine 04841
Phone: 207-594-4174
Fax: 207-596-1091
info@lighthousefoundation.org
The American Lighthouse Foundation is a
Non-Profit 501(c)(3) Organization dedicated to the preservation of America's historic
lighthouses & lightships and their heritage.
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Relighting of Avery Point Lighthouse Makes
History with Carmanah Technologies’ LED Beacon
By Bob Trapani, Jr.
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The ornate masonry light tower at Avery Point in Groton,
Connecticut is no longer a darkened beacon standing sentinel at the edge
of the University of Connecticut’s beautiful Avery Point campus. With
its flashing green light shining forth every 4 seconds once again over
Long Island Sound, the 62 year-old lighthouse will now serve mariners as
a private aid to navigation (newly assigned U.S. Coast Guard Light
List number 21743.00).
In addition to its renewed service as an aid to
navigation, the lighthouse and its state-of-the-art optic will also
beckon the public to come near and learn more about America’s lighthouse
past, present |
Photo by Ron Foster
Avery Point Lighthouse was relit
as a private aid to navigation
on October 15, 2006
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and future, thanks
in part to a generous donation by Carmanah Technologies of British Columbia,
Canada.
On October 15,
2006, the Avery Point Lighthouse Society, a chapter of the American
Lighthouse Foundation, and the University of Connecticut hosted a glorious
relighting ceremony for the Avery Point Lighthouse, and formally dedicated
the light tower to all lightkeepers and lighthouses in |
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Photo by Ron Foster
(L to R) Fran Mainella, director of NPS,
Ken "Mr. Lighthouse" Black and Lexis
Foster were presented the honor of
pressing the ceremonial button to
relight the lighthouse
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the United
States. The ceremony, which was attended by a host of dignitaries,
including Fran Mainella, director of the National Park Service and
Connecticut’s Congressman Rob Simmons, culminated a six-year, $500,000
restoration of the Avery Point Lighthouse – an admirable feat
accomplished by the
dedicated
volunteers of the Avery Point Lighthouse Society.
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As the afternoon
sun began its descent, guest speakers touched on the importance of saving a
Connecticut historic site, as well as the major effort of restoring the
lighthouse, which was once on the verge of extinction. But as dusk melted
into nightfall the 2,000-plus people in attendance began gearing up for the
moment everyone came to see – the official relighting of Avery Point
Lighthouse. Lead by master of |
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ceremonies
Timothy Harrison, president of the American Lighthouse Foundation, the
crowd joined in unison with him, counting down to the exact moment when
Avery Point’s light would glimmer once more from atop the 55-foot
sentinel.
At that precise moment, you might say that Carmanah
Technologies was ushered into a very “bright” role during the climax of
the ceremony as the countdown chant reached “one.” When it was time to
illuminate the light, honored participants Kenneth Black, Fran Mainella
and Lexis Foster – representing the past, present and future of
lighthouses respectively, |
Photo by Ron Foster
A close-up view of the lantern
showing the Carmanah LED beacon shining bright by land and sea
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pressed a ceremonial button / plunger symbolizing the moment the beacon was
energized.
Thanks to the donation of a 702 Series LED beacon, Carmanah Technologies
allowed those in attendance at the Avery Point relighting ceremony to
witness an exciting new chapter in lighthouse history unfold right before
their eyes as the first green beams of light pierced the dark skies over
Long Island Sound at 7:00 pm.
With the installation of the self-contained Carmanah LED beacon, Avery Point
became the first lighthouse in the United States – and possibly the |
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Photo by Bob Trapani, Jr.
The spacious lantern with its large
windows enables the self-contained
Carmanah LED 702-Series beacon to
recharge inside the lighthouse
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world, to successfully house this type of cutting-edge
technology inside the lantern of a lighthouse. The Carmanah 702-Series
LED beacon, which contains the optic, solar panels and batteries all
within one self-contained unit, requires sufficient sunlight to recharge
the batteries that store the solar energy to operate the optic.
Due to the unique architectural design of |
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Avery Point’s lantern, which
includes an unusual amount of space height-wise, as well as an array of tall
windows that comprise the lantern, the self-contained LED beacon has
successfully been able to retain a full charge for reliable and efficient
operation throughout a test period that commenced in June 2006.
Another important aspect of Carmanah’s donation worth noting is how 21st
century lighting technology is able to blend seamlessly within an |
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impeccably
restored historic structure like Avery Point Lighthouse. The beauty of
the 702-Series Carmanah beacon is that with all of its operating
components self-contained, it enabled the Avery Point Lighthouse Society
to avoid having to mount exterior solar panels on the face of the
granite structure, while also eliminating the need to create a battery
storage area within the structure’s interior.
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Photo by Ann-Marie Trapani
(L to R) Avery Point Light Society
co-chairmen Ron Foster and Jim Streeter
(along with Joe Foster) installed the
Carmanah LED beacon for test
purposes on June 10, 2006
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Both from an
historical integrity perspective, as well as the safety and environmental
aspects, Carmanah’s donation presented a rare opportunity for aesthetics,
safety and operational efficiency at a lighthouse to come together in a
transparent partnership that has no equal throughout the United States. To
learn more about Carmanah Technologies, visit
www.solarmarinelights.com
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Photo by Ron Foster
The Carmanah LED beacon
could be seen hanging from the cupola of
Avery Point's lantern the day of the relighting ceremony
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Photo by Bob Trapani, Jr.
A close-up view of the
Carmanah LED 702-Series
beacon "ready for duty" inside
Avery Point Lighthouse
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Posted: 12/12/06 |
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