Really BIG..

It is difficult to look at raw photos of Pequot Lighthouse after Superstorm Sandy and not find New London’s Harbor Lighthouse beautiful in the romantic way we envision lighthouses: stolid, stoic guardians ever-keeping watch for our brave mariners. But this spring it is we who become the guardians as New London Maritime Society--with your generous support--steps forward to perform a major restoration of the historic 1801 ‘Pequot’ Light. In fact, there have been several changes at the lighthouse, already.

Earlier this year, FEMA aid allowed us to repair damage wrought by Superstorm Sandy. Stone mason Harald Hefel replaced a wall, restored the walkway to the lighthouse, and we added an ADA-compliant stainless-steel railing (a condition of the grant), with the idea that even people with limited mobility now have access to the ground floor of the lighthouse. (The railing is the same transparent design used on NYC’s High Line.) We also will add a walkway along the wall and granite buttressing at a point where the ledge is being cut away under the lighthouse foundation. As lighthouse stewards, our responsibilities to the National Park Service require both preservation and public access.

Phase 1 restoration commences June 1, with the arrival of Brand Scaffolding (a 100% donation) and project manager and contractor Loring & Son Masonry. Scott and Terry Loring will coordinate the cleaning, re-pointing, and repainting of the beacon, as well as perform the restoration work on the masonry, cast-iron lantern and seven bronze windows. Major cracks inside the watch room--the floor just below the lantern--will be cleaned out and replastered with special mortar matched by Edison Coating, which also will provide elastic paint for the exterior (at 50% discount). We are not stripping the existing paint, but cleaning it with a biocide to remove the lichen before painting. (Lichen is causing much of the present discoloration to the tower.) New England Regional Council of Carpenters volunteers will erect and dismantle the scaffolding; volunteers from the the Painters Union will do the priming and painting. Replacement bronze vents have been made to match the

one original by Dave Fallon; lantern wainscotting will be replaced by David Lersch -- both donations to NLMS. The work should be completed by the end of July. What the lighthouse may loose in romance, it surely gains in longevity and    accessibility. Susan Tamulevich, NLMS ex. director