New England Lighthouse Treasures

The Dutch Island Lighthouse Rehabilitation Project is moving forward to the construction phase. After five years, the Rhode Island Department of Transportation has approved a $120,000 federal/state Transportation Enhancement Grant for the restoration of Dutch Island Lighthouse. The delayed approval of funding postponed the Dutch Island Lighthouse Society (DILS) plans to complete the restoration of the historic Tower and relighting of the light by the spring of 2007.

DILS members have donated $90,000 for the balance of the estimated $160,000 restoration cost and $5,000 for the solar-powered lighting to reactivate Dutch Island Lighthouse as a Private Aid to Navigation. The Preservation Society needs to raise an additional $155,000 for the maintenance endowment of the Lighthouse.

Abcore Restoration Company, who previously restored Plum Beach and Pomham Rocks Lighthouses, was awarded the construction contract and is expected to start construction by midsummer and hopefully, the Company will complete the Lighthouse restoration by fall of 2007.

The Dutch Island Lighthouse Society, a chapter of the American Lighthouse Foundation, was established in May of 2000 to restore and maintain the Lighthouse that was First Lit on January 1, 1827 to aid navigation entering the West Passage of Narragansett Bay as well as entering the sheltered Harbor of Refuge at Dutch Island. In 1979, the Coast Guard deactivated and abandoned the Lighthouse after years of costly and rampant vandalism. Dutch Island Lighthouse was replaced by a offshore Light Gong buoy.

In 2002, the Dutch Island Lighthouse Society applied for $120,000 Transportation Enhancement Grant to fund their Dutch Island Lighthouse Rehabilitation Project, STP-TEA2-098 under the Transportation Equity Act.
For more information about Dutch Island Lighthouse, please click on the photo of this post.

Dutch Island Light is best viewed by boat. A distant view of the Lighthouse can be seen from the Fort Getty Recreation Area in Jamestown.

For Google Map Directions, please visit the Google Map of Dutch Island Lighthouse
and the
Google Map of Fort Getty

Related News Source:
Update from the Dutch Island Lighthouse Society, Aug 2, 2007

Technorati Tags: lighthouse, Dutch Island Lighthouse Restoration, Dutch Island Lighthouse, Restoration Project, Dutch Island, Rhode Island

This entry was authored and posted by Debbie Dolphin on Monday, August 6th, 2007 at 7:21 pm and is filed under Preservation News. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site. Comments may be held for moderation, and I reserve the right to delete inappropriate or off-topic comments.