This sale is going by sealed bid...with no minimum.

Very interesting. Any time I've been there...at any time of the year...the area feels like "wall-to-wall" people...and the golf tournament rakes 'em in too.

Yep...Interesting!

Judy

I wonder if owning the lighthouse and the surrounding commercial property would entitle the owner to receive the royalties Sea Pines charges for replicas of the Harbor Town "Lighthouse"?

Remember also that if you are not a property owner at Sea Pines, you pay an admission fee to visit the Harbor Town commercial area and ANOTHER fee to walk through the lighthouse.

This may go down as one of those lighthouses I will never see, as I refuse to pay those bums to see a faux light. They certainly can't be in need of the extra money from the fees they hose you with. Maybe we should start a fund to buy the property, then move the faux light up to Mombo's place with the HL yacht. Put a nice little bar in the light, with Sue as the proprieter. Well, on second thought, could we then afford the bar bill?

Saint Agitator

Sounds good Dave, then I could charge admission (to pay for the beer) but Wackos of course would get in free if they wear their badges!

From The Lighthouse Friends site...
http://www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=330

Judy

Judy,

This can't be considered a real (legitimate) light just because it is shown on navigational charts. Its primary purpose in life is to be the "symbol" of Harbourtown and to serve as a gift shop. I wonder what "lighthouse preservation society" receives the funds from admission? It may have connections to the past, but it is still a faux light controlled by greedy people (imho).

Dave

Well Dave, all I can tell you is it's stated on their signs and written material at the lighthouse that part of the ($1.00/person) proceeds go to The Preservation Society. I know nothing about the group other than it exists. It is based in Newburyport, Massachusetts and has a web site at http://www.maine.com/lights/lps.htm

Then, there's the fact that Harbour Lights has chosen to make a replica of Sea Pines (Harbour Town) at least four times to my knowledge:

LE136
415 Glow
LL104
& it was one of the lighthouses featured in the 1998 Spyglass Southern Belles Collection.

So I guess Harbour Lights must see it as a worthy light. You might ask HL why they've made so many replicas of this light.

Judy

Isn't that the group the we discussed some time back and some questioned their performance?

Sue...I've only heard the name tossed around. There's a list of accomplishments on the web page...but it doesn't list any contacts.

Does anyone here know WHO they are, or know anyone connected with them?

When you had a discussion before about the group, were you able to locate anything about them?

Harbor Town is not the first place I've seen 'em mentioned, but I can't remember where else.

Judy

We did discuss the Lighthouse Preservation Society before. It was in a topic from May 2002.

Here is the link:
http://www.lighthousekeepers.com/cgi-bin/forumscgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=001216

Judy,

HL makes Sea Pines because there are a bunch of well-to-do people there that buy the GLOW. Little Lights are being made of lots and lots of lights, well known and otherwise so that isn't a surprise. The Spyglass was made solely based on the fact that they had, for whatever reason, chosen to make it as one of the Southern Belles (I guess there always has to be the ugly step-sister. . . . .) Bottom line is, regardless of the fact that HL chose to produce it, Sea Pines is a faux light owned by greedy people.

The Lighthouse Preservation group is the group that no one seems to know about. As much as it pains me to agree with Sue, there was something a little while back about one of the national groups challenging the legitimacy of this group. Can't remember if it was ALF or USLHS that brought up the issue, but it was an editorial in one of the publications that surfaced the issue. As I recall, the basis was that this group claimed a lot of accomplishments that actually belonged, in whole or part, to other groups. And, that they apparently had been very dormant for quite a while. (Maybe they just don't get enough funding from the greedy people at Sea Pines [tic]).

Dave

Dave, we must have been posting replies at the same time. See my reply directly before your's with the link to the previous topic about Lighthouse Preservation Society from May 2002. There was an article in the 'Keepers Log' about them that wasn't very flattering.

According to the developer, ten percent of the $1 admission fee, children five and under free, was to be divided amongst five groups: Sea Pines Forest Preserve/Museum, Lighthouse Preservation Society, Deep Well, the Hilton Head Museum and the Heritage Classic Foundation. The remainer would go for upkeep of the lighthouse.

So whoever the Preservation Society is...they have been getting a small piece of a small pie. (Now who they are...and what they do with the money that comes into them remains in question)

As for Harbour Lights, I own the limited edition HL136 which was retired in December of '94, not the GLOW, and I didn't purchase it at Harbour Town. I doubt that I'm the only HL collector who owns one, or HL wouldn't have gone on to add it to four other lines. I also own the Southern Belles...and there are many wonderful lights in the south that HL could have chosen for their fifth belle besides Sea Pines.

Granted, Sea Pines is not a historical lighthouse, but it is operational and it exists on Coast Guard maps. Doesn't mean one has to spend a buck to climb it.

The most important function the lighthouse serves in my eyes is this... If you happen to be there and hear only once, a child's excitement of discovery...then the lighthouse..."faux" or not, serves a positive purpose.

Btw...there is a real historical lighthouse on Hilton Head...the Rear Lighthouse Range Light Station. It still exists today only because another one of the "greedy" developers of Hilton Head, Greenwood Development Corp., parent company of Palmetto Dunes, restored it.

Judy