Hi gang. This may be old news here but I'll post it anyway. Just read this today.


A lift for lighthouses: Measure would rescue states' historic beacons

10/3 - Port Huron - Michigan's U.S. senators have introduced legislation that could provide grants to preserve historic Fort Gratiot Lighthouse and other crumbling lighthouses. The bill would tap into a funding source that predates the nation - a tax on every ton of cargo shipped into the United States. A similar tax - a penny per ton of cargo entering Boston Harbor - was used in 1716 to build the first lighthouse in the American colonies.

The United States taxes foreign shipping at 2 cents per ton to pay for lighthouse maintenance. The U.S. Coast Guard, however, is divesting itself of lighthouses that are becoming obsolete because of modern navigation systems. The new legislation, introduced by Democrats Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow, would establish a pilot program, run by the Secretary of the Interior, that would allow states and nonprofit groups to apply for competitive grants for restoration projects. The pilot program would be budgeted for $20 million a year for three years.

"It would mean we would have a pretty significant source, not only of funds to restore the site, but to develop the tourism aspect of it as well," said Dennis Zembala, president of the Port Huron Museum.

The lighthouse and associated buildings remain Coast Guard property. The museum and the city of Port Huron are pursuing a title to the five-acre site. This year, the Coast Guard closed the interior of the tower to tours because of structural integrity concerns. The building, completed in 1829, is the oldest lighthouse in Michigan.

"We're still waiting for the review by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality of the last environmental report that was done by the Coast Guard and the General Services Administration," Zembala said. "When we get that report, we will be able to move forward in affecting the transfer of the property to the city and the museum."

Zembala said the lighthouse's current woes - the 86-foot tall tower has several exterior cracks and bricks have fallen out in several places - are likely because of sandblasting that removed the surface of the bricks. Without the surface, the bricks absorbed water, leading to chipping when the water froze, he said.

Jennifer Radcliff of Clarkston, a member of the Michigan Lighthouse Fund, said there are other lighthouses in worse shape -- but not one that spends as much time in the public spotlight. "The risk with Fort Gratiot is the tower and the softness of the brick and the poor decisions the Coast Guard made with the coating on the bricks," she said. "The tower is really at risk as much as any lighthouse on the Great Lakes.

"There are a couple that are in worse shape, but none that are in reach of the public and none where there is so much history and none where there are other buildings that could be used (as part of a museum complex)." The legislation, Radcliff said, would direct part of the 2-cent lighthouse tax to its original purpose -- maintaining lighthouses.

"We felt the right thing is, if you own the lighthouses and are using taxes to care for them, that's fine," she said. "But if you no longer own the lighthouse and someone else is caring for them, some of the revenue should come with ownership." The program would divide the funding among the states based on the number of lighthouses; Michigan, with about 120, has the most in the nation. Radcliff said that while smaller communities may be happy to get title to historic lighthouses, they're often not able to pay for restoration.

From the Port Huron Times Herald