May 17,
2010…Update # 2 – The 2010 restoration of Owls Head Lighthouse is an $80,000
project being funded and managed by the nonprofit American Lighthouse
Foundation and ALF chapter, Friends of Rockland Breakwater Lighthouse
Staying True to Owls Head Light’s Past Helps
Ensure a Brighter Future
By Bob Trapani,
Jr.
Historic
restoration work is underway at Owls Head Lighthouse, and though work
crews remained unseen from outside the light, the sounds of a humming
generator and the noise emitting from the tools it powered inside the
historic tower indicated that activity was happening behind its
brick walls.
In fact, it
was the brick interior of the lighthouse that was first in line to
Photo by Bob Trapani, Jr.
(L to R) Dave Eastman and Jake Johnson
work on repointing the interior of
Owls
Head Lighthouse
receive the full
attention of J.B. Leslie Company, who has been contracted by the nonprofit
American Lighthouse Foundation to facilitate the restoration project’s scope
of work.
On May 11, 2010,
work crews began the process of removing deteriorated mortar from the
brickwork’s joints in advance of repointing the interior of the lighthouse –
a phase of the project that will not only improve the aesthetics of the
tower, but more importantly, help prevent damaging moisture from entering
the structure.
After three days
of cutting the mortar joints, J.B. Leslie Company began repointing the light
tower’s interior with natural cement on May 14th.
Photo by Bob Trapani, Jr.
A close-up view of natural cement mortar
being used in the repointing
process
The decision
to use natural cement for the repointing work was determined by a
combination of science via a sample analysis and historic research.
Technological
expertise confirmed that mortar samples from the interior of the
lighthouse were natural cement, and National Archives documentation
provided by
renowned researcher Candace Clifford backed up the findings of the analysis
by shedding light on the tower’s construction (the present 1852 tower
replaced an original lighthouse built at the site in 1825).
Advertised
construction specifications released on May 31, 1852 for a
new lighthouse to
be built at Owls Head stated the following (excerpted):
“The tower to be
built of the best hard burnt brick, the form round, the foundation to be
sunk as deep as may be necessary to make the whole fabric perfectly secure
and all of the bricks to be laid in the best of Rosendale cement.”
One hundred and
fifty eight years later, the 2010 restoration of Owls Head Lighthouse is
utilizing a Rosendale natural cement to repoint the interior of the tower,
and thus remaining consistent with the historic mortar materials that exist
inside the lighthouse today and what were originally authorized in
specifications released by Luther Jewett, Collector and Superintendent of
Lighthouses in Maine back in 1852.
Edison
Coatings, Inc. of Plainville, CT, is the manufacturer of the natural
cement product being used by J.B. Leslie Company for repointing the
tower’s interior.
According to
Edison’s website, “Edison’s
Rosendale Natural Cement Products® are historically correct materials
made from authentic, 100% natural cement rock. Edison’s Rosendale Natural
Cement mortars, stuccos,
Photo by Bob Trapani, Jr.
(L to R) Jim Leslie of J.B. Leslie
Company
and Mike Johnson of the Maine Historic
Preservation Commission discuss the
project’s scope of work on May 6, 2010
grouts and concretes fully utilize the extensive
engineering expertise developed in the use of natural cement in the 19th and
20th centuries.”
Prior to
restoration work starting at Owls Head Light, a preservation officer from
the Maine Historic Preservation Commission conducted a site visit with
representatives of the American Lighthouse Foundation and its contractor,
J.B. Leslie Company.
The group reviewed
the project’s scope of work and examined remaining residual glimpses of its
past, such as interior paint and plaster coatings.
The findings will
help the Commission and ALF determine items such as the color to repaint the
staircase. This determination will be based on a review process of the full
sequence of paint layers that exist on the ironwork and how this information
coincides with the light tower’s period of historical significance.
Photo by Bob Trapani, Jr.
A close-up view of the joints along the
brickwork following the removal of
deteriorated mortar
In addition,
lab analysis to be conducted on plaster patches will determine what eras
the tower may have been coated on the interior – information that will
prove vital with future site care and interpretation.
This type of
careful planning, analysis and attention to detail will ensure that Owls
Head Lighthouse, which is
owned by the
United States Coast Guard and licensed to the American Lighthouse Foundation
for preservation and educational purposes, will not only look its best when
the project is completed, but also ensure that the work remains true to the
tower’s historical past in the process.
Photo by Bob Trapani, Jr.
Site signage and staging around
the tower point to the fact that the
lighthouse is receiving some
much-needed TLC
Photo by Bob Trapani, Jr.
(L to R) Dave Eastman and Jake Johnson
take a break from
removing old mortar from the brickwork’s
joints
(L to R) Jim Leslie of
J.B. Leslie Company talks with U.S. Coast
Guard inspector
Jeffrey Grantham, who is overseeing a
USCG project to restore the lantern at Owls
Head Light
Photo by Bob Trapani, Jr.
Photo by Bob Trapani, Jr.
Dave Eastman uses an
electric grout gun to apply new natural cement along the joints of the
brickwork
Jake Johnson is shown
"tooling" new natural cement mortar during the repointing process
