Turner said she hopes the project will begin before the end of the year, and that the work could last about two years.

Hurricane Georges destroyed the lighthouse in 1998, and a preservation committee pushed city leaders then to save its remains. About a year later, city officials had seven large surviving pieces moved by tugboat to the Jackson County Port Authority property just off Bayou Casotte in Pascagoula, where the sections are still stored.

Several other smaller fragments are scattered in various places throughout the city, Turner said.

The harbor light's 22-foot base is still on Round Island, just four miles northeast of Horn Island, and will have to be moved, Turner said.

"We're going to put in whatever new material we need and try to keep it as close to original as we can," she said.