Tower Restoration begins at Wood Island
Lighthouse
Biddeford Pool, ME -- The Friends of Wood Island Lighthouse (“FOWIL”) have
announced that the first major phase of restoration at Wood Island
Lighthouse has begun.
Construction boats left Vines Landing in Biddeford Pool on the morning of
October 26th, ferrying tools, equipment and material to the island to
begin a two-month restoration of the interior and
exterior of the lighthouse tower and its adjoining oil room. The work
was contracted to Stone Age Masonry of Sabattus, ME. Only ten days after
the bids were opened, Stone Age had mobilized and moved to get started
ahead of the winter season.
FOWIL, a chapter of the American Lighthouse Foundation,
was formed in 2003 to restore and preserve the lighthouse. Brad Coupe,
Chair of the FOWIL Executive Committee, spoke of the excitement the
group feels as work gets underway. “We are ecstatic to see this goal
become a reality. For six long
Photo by Sean Murphy
Wood Island Lighthouse,
circa 1858
years, our
volunteers have been at this, devoting countless hours to maintaining the
lighthouse and raising money,” he said. “This phase of the work is being
funded entirely by membership donations and donations from summer visitors
who participated in FOWIL lighthouse tours, and by purchases at FOWIL art
shows, sales of lighthouse merchandise, and grants the group has obtained.
Wood Island Lighthouse,
commissioned by Thomas Jefferson in 1808, was on Lighthouse Digest’s
“Doomsday List” of America’s most endangered lighthouses in 2003. “We are
pleased today to be pulling it back from the
Photo by Bob Trapani, Jr.
Regarding the Wood Island tower
restoration..."We are ecstatic to see this
goal become a reality."
--
Brad Coupe, FOWIL Chairperson
brink,” Coupe
said. “The tower is the oldest structure at the light station, having
been erected in 1858. Hollis Curtis, owner of Stone Age, said, “We are
excited to have been entrusted with the job of renewing this historic
structure. We plan to deliver a completely restored tower to the Friends
before the end of the year, if the elements cooperate,” Curtis said.
The tower work is the first of two phases being planned for completion in
the next 15 months. The second phase will move to the keeper’s house. It
will address the exterior siding, windows and roof, and it will return the
porch to its attractive, original design from 1906, when this house was
expanded to its current Dutch Colonial design.
The second phase will be funded by a Federal grant sponsored by U.S. Senator
Susan M. Collins and initiated by the American Lighthouse Foundation’s
Executive Director Bob Trapani. “Without Senator Collins’ tenacious efforts
on our behalf to obtain the federal appropriation, we
could not accomplish all that is now within FOWIL’s
reach,” Trapani said. He also noted that the appropriation will assist
two other ALF lighthouses at Pemaquid Point and Owl’s Head. And, Coupe
added, “Without the backing that this appropriation gave us, we would
not have attempted to do the tower with our own funds.” “We owe Senator
Collins a great debt of gratitude.”
Assisting FOWIL with the design of the restoration work
and guiding them through the historic preservation regulatory process
has been a team led by Ed Theriault of Theriault/Landmann Associates,
Inc. of Portland, and Scott Whitaker of Building Envelope Consultants,
Photo by Bob Trapani, Jr.
The 2009 restoration
project will also include the
interior of the tower
South Portland. “Ed and Scott have been as enthusiastic about this project
as our own members,” Coupe said. “They have worked seamlessly with the State
Historic Preservation Commission and the Coast Guard to ensure that our work
meets required historic standards at every step.”
