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The former U.S. Lighthouse Service Depot on Staten Island has been selected as the home of the new National Lighthouse Center and Museum at a meeting attended by lighthouse groups from all over the nation.
Selection of the Staten Island site, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, capped a lengthy planning and site selection process that started with formation of a National Lighthouse Center and Museum Steering Committee in March of 1997.
Many of the site finalists were on hand at the July 11th meeting held in Washington, D.C. to give one final pitch to have their site selected.
Excellent presentations were given by Mackinaw City, Michigan; Point Judith, Rhode Island; Hull, Massachusetts; Rockland, Maine; New London, Connecticut; and Staten Island, NY. Even the Lt. Governor of Rhode Island showed up to make a pitch for Rhode Island as the site.
Mackinaw City had the largest contingent of people on hand, and with numerous graphs, charts and plans, they explained to the committee how Mackinaw City would be the best location for a museum. Ken Black, founder and director of the Shore Village Museum in Rockland, Maine said that since he already has the largest collection of lighthouse lenses and memorabilia, Rockland would be a good, logical choice. He also mentioned that Wayne Wheeler, president of the U.S. Lighthouse Society had previously called his museum, "America's Lighthouse Museum."
After the voting took place, it was what most had predicted ahead of time, Staten Island won the vote.
Ralph Eschelmen, President of the National Lighthouse Steering Committee, said, "Any of the finalist sites could have hosted a good museum, and the level of enthusiasm was nothing short of outstanding." However, he went on to say, "Staten Island not only offered an historic site, but an outstanding location easily reached by large numbers of visitors."
Dick Moehl, President of the Great Lakes Lighthouse Keepers Association, congratulated the winners and agreed the site was an excellent location for the National Museum. However, he also announced that Mackinaw City will have its own Great Lakes Lighthouse Museum, which will be separate from the National Museum.
The National Lighthouse Museum Steering Committee issued a resolution supporting the Great Lakes Lighthouse Museum and offered its support to assist the Great Lakes group in any way that it can.
Negotiations will now begin between committee members, representing a large number of national, regional and local lighthouse preservation groups, and site and government representatives, to work out details of the new museum, envisioned as a $20 million construction and exhibition project with a $20 million endowment.
The site, once the main national base of the U.S. Lighthouse Service, which was dissolved in 1939 and taken over by the Coast Guard, shares space with docks and terminal ferries of the Staten Island Ferries, which carry millions of commuters and tourists each year. Restoration of the decaying Lighthouse Service buildings will be coordinated with adjoining Staten Island redevelopment projects. Borough president Guy Molinari has pledged $1.2 million toward immediate stabilization work on the structures, while New York City Mayor Giuliana and N.Y. Gov. Pataki have offered $1.9 million each in city and state assistance.
Funding will be sought from government, foundation and corporate sources. The museum will serve as both an exhibit center telling the rich and colorful story of America's lighthouses, and an archive, research and workshop center for the largely volunteer lighthouse preservation movement.
Interestingly enough, Staten Island was not the site preferred by the thousands of Lighthouse Digest subscribers who responded to our insert card last year. Although, unscientific, the results of that poll were nearly a tie with 44% wanting a national lighthouse museum to be located in New England, while 43% wanted it located in the Great Lakes. Amazingly, only 1% of our readers thought the museum should be in Staten Island, which was the site selected. (refer to our December 1997 issue for a full page story on the Lighthouse Digest poll) However, to be objective, Lighthouse Digest subscribers were not privy to all the site reports and financial aspects needed to support a national museum.
This story appeared in the August 1998 edition of Lighthouse Digest Magazine. For subscription information about the print edition, click here.
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