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The funding will help the Rockland-based American Lighthouse Foundation,
which cares for ten historic lighthouses along the coast of Maine, to
enhance the organization’s preservation and public access programs.
Maine residents and visitors alike are very concerned about the present and
future well being of the Pine Tree State’s historic lighthouses, many of
which are in need of critical restoration to ensure the public can continue
to enjoy and learn from them into the future.
In many cases, these iconic beacons are well over a century old, having
suffered for decades from the effects of age, storms and salt water
deterioration. Without vigilant care, Maine’s lighthouses are at risk of
being lost as irreplaceable cultural resources.
The American Lighthouse Foundation (ALF), the nation’s leading lighthouse
preservation organization, is addressing this challenge by successfully
empowering civic-minded Maine residents to make a difference in their
communities. Mainers connecting with fellow Mainers and visitors alike have
proven to be the backbone for ALF’s lighthouse public access program and
educational initiatives that reach well beyond the preservation of the
lights themselves.
“The prospect of federal funding exemplifies the importance of lighthouses
to Maine’s rich maritime heritage and their positive impact on our present
day economy,” says ALF executive director Bob Trapani, Jr. “We are very
grateful to Senators Collins and Snowe for their hard work on behalf of the
American Lighthouse Foundation and these timeless sentinels of the sea that
are admired and beloved by countless thousands of people in Maine and
throughout the nation.”
Trapani goes on to note, “By supporting programs like public access at Maine
lighthouses, we are working to ensure these historic structures are
preserved for the future while having a vital financial impact on Maine’s
economy through heritage tourism initiatives. Historic preservation also
creates jobs that employ Maine-based contractors, architects and engineers
during needed periods of lighthouse maintenance and restoration.”
The American Lighthouse Foundation is a nonprofit corporation whose mission
is to save and preserve our nation’s historic light stations and their rich
heritage. ALF accomplishes this in part through the restoration, promotion
and adaptive re-use of America’s historic light stations, as well as
educational initiatives that foster the sustainable preservation of
lighthouses and perpetuate the legacy of the men and women who have tended
them.
For more information contact the American Lighthouse Foundation office at
(207) 594-4174.
Posted: 9/2/2008 |
