Coast Guard and Campbell Construction Restore ...

03/10/05 6:58 AM

1-800-758-1444

Coast Guard and Campbell Construction Restore Brant Point Light

Nantucket’s Brant Point is home to America’s second oldest lighthouse station, having been established in 1746, and the tower has been moved and rebuilt more times than any other. The present lighthouse, built in 1901, is at least the eighth at Brant Point. The pretty little lighthouse is seen by thousands of people each year as they enter and leave the island on ferries from the mainland, 30 miles away.

The Coast Guard and Campbell Construction Group have completed an overhaul of the lighthouse. The design work for the renovation was done by Marsha Levy from Civil Engineering Unit Providence, Rhode Island. The six-week project entailed removing the lead paint from the lantern and replacing all the lantern glass, reshingling the tower, repainting the entire structure, and replacing the interior stucco work.

Site supervisor Marty Nally of Campbell Construction found the project a relatively easy one. “This is a very small project, so it’s not challenging compared to the ones we’ve done.” Recent lighthouse renovations by Campbell Construction include Rhode Island’s Point Judith Light and Annisquam Light in Massachusetts.

Despite the relatively small scale nature of the Brant Point project, Nally enjoyed it. “It’s better than working in downtown Boston and fighting the traffic. I’m really into lighthouses. When I get to one I find out all the history of it. To be able to work in the same places that those guys worked in 200 years ago is fun.”

Brant Point Light is a short distance from an active Coast Guard station, where the previous Brant Point Lighthouse (1856) still stands, minus its lantern. The long tradition of arriving at Nantucket by “coming ‘round Brant Point” seems destined to continue well into the future.

This story appeared in the November 2000 edition of Lighthouse Digest Magazine. For subscription information about the print edition, click here.

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