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Light repairs
by Outspoken on Wed Jan 16, 2008 6:42 am
Light repairs
A fund drive seeks to fix one of Maine's most accessible beacons.
By JOSIE HUANG
Staff Writer Portland Press Herald
Other lighthouses are far taller, striking, more famous.
But of the 100 or so Mark Smith has come across in his 71 years, rarely has he found one as visitor-friendly as the black-and- white beacon on the coast of South Portland, shaped like a sparkplug.
To reach the Spring Point Ledge Lighthouse, visitors cross a 900-foot-long breakwater and climb a series of stairs and ladders to get from the cellar to the kitchen to the watchroom.
"You can go to all the levels, except for where the light is," said Smith, who drives from his home in Bath to give tours of the light station. "You can see where the keeper was."
Now boosters for one of the most familiar towers in Maine are hoping others who have enjoyed Spring Point Ledge in the past will support a bid to raise money for repairs.
More than $71,000 is needed to plug leaks, buy new windows for the lantern room and weatherproof the deck and railings against saltwater, according to the Spring Point Ledge Light Trust.
So far the trust has received a $5,000 grant from the Saco & Biddeford Savings Institution and a private donation of $25, said John McClean, chairman of the trust. But McClean is hopeful that donations pick up soon.
"If we don't fix it, we're going to have major problems," McClean said. "It'll just degrade and we can't let it happen."
http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=162550&ac=PHnws
John Ewing/Staff Photographer
A fund drive seeks to fix one of Maine's most accessible beacons.
By JOSIE HUANG
Staff Writer Portland Press Herald
Other lighthouses are far taller, striking, more famous.
But of the 100 or so Mark Smith has come across in his 71 years, rarely has he found one as visitor-friendly as the black-and- white beacon on the coast of South Portland, shaped like a sparkplug.
To reach the Spring Point Ledge Lighthouse, visitors cross a 900-foot-long breakwater and climb a series of stairs and ladders to get from the cellar to the kitchen to the watchroom.
"You can go to all the levels, except for where the light is," said Smith, who drives from his home in Bath to give tours of the light station. "You can see where the keeper was."
Now boosters for one of the most familiar towers in Maine are hoping others who have enjoyed Spring Point Ledge in the past will support a bid to raise money for repairs.
More than $71,000 is needed to plug leaks, buy new windows for the lantern room and weatherproof the deck and railings against saltwater, according to the Spring Point Ledge Light Trust.
So far the trust has received a $5,000 grant from the Saco & Biddeford Savings Institution and a private donation of $25, said John McClean, chairman of the trust. But McClean is hopeful that donations pick up soon.
"If we don't fix it, we're going to have major problems," McClean said. "It'll just degrade and we can't let it happen."
http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=162550&ac=PHnws
John Ewing/Staff Photographer
"Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything."
Plato (427-347 BC)
Plato (427-347 BC)
