Looking good: Volunteers’ love of Ashtabula Lighthouse shows in their many hours of hard work

The Ashtabula Lighthouse Restoration and Preservation Society (ALR&PS) has installed their new floating boat dock. They had originally planned to install it late last summer but due to needed permits, bad weather and projects that were already in progress when it arrived, it was felt that it could wait until first thing this spring.

Before the dock was in place a person going out to the lighthouse would have had to try to get off of a boat moving up and down with the waves, then climb straight up a "fixed-in-the-wall" metal ladder, crawl through a small hatch to stand on the original lighthouse deck. Since the new Con-o-lift Floating Dock System was installed, easy access to the lighthouse has been made possible for volunteers.

It is now possible to step off a boat, walk up a slight incline and then proceed up a wide set of steps to the original "lighthouse deck". Because of the severe winter conditions on Lake Erie, large holes, cracks and uneven surfaces were very evident on this deck. It was repaired over the last two summers with a special super-plasticized "ProSpec" concrete that was donated by Bonsal America. This year, special thick walled pipe was ordered by Canton, Ohio member Dave Pool who lives here during weekends.

Mr. Pool and his wife Helen came to the City of Ashtabula a couple of years ago and fell in love with Lake Erie. They purchased weekend house in the city. They found out about the Ashtabula Lighthouse project and became active members in the lighthouse society. Almost every weekend during the past two summers he has been there. Mr. Pool added, “I fell in love with the lake when I was a kid back in the late fifties. My family would stay at my grandparent’s cottage on Middle Bass. We had to take a ferry boat out of Port Clinton to get to the island. That end of the lake has changed so much since I was a kid. It just isn't the same. That's why I like Ashtabula so much. I know it's changed also, but it has retained that small town charm that reminds me of how Port Clinton used to be.”

Ashtabula resident Earl B. Tucker has worked together with many others to replaced 32 of the thick wall pipe hand railings around the outside of lighthouse. "These repairs were needed to make the area safe for future lighthouse visitors. Most, if not all of these pipes have been here since it was built in 1915. A close inspection of the 1915 cast iron connection stanchions of the railing, found them to be in great shape except for repainting. That is presently being completed by some of us," stated Tucker.

President of the ALR&PS Joe Santiana added, "Temporary inside walls that the U. S. Coast Guard had installed as they abandoned it back in 1979, needed to be removed for the inspection of the original windows. These same windows on the outside have steel shutters are over a 1/4" thick. However, because of the severe winter storms and the ice that forms on the lighthouse, most of these shutters need to be replaced.”

Mr. Santiana found out that the present owner/operator of Halman Steel & Fabricating Inc., Bob Halman, built the shutters while working for Carlson Steel many years ago. Santiana continued, "He is now building the new replacement shutters. One by one our volunteers remove a shutter, haul it ashore, use it as a pattern and a new one is constructed. It is then painted and hauled back out to the lighthouse to be installed. We probably couldn't have done some of the inside and outside work if it hadn't been for the electric generator that was donated by Ziegler Heating. It provides electric for some of our tools and the lighting so we are able to see in most inside areas that still have the thick "rusted shut" steel shutters on."

ALR&PS Secretary Lorna Greicius said, "Most of this is hard, heavy and slow work. Besides sanding, grinding and preparing surfaces on the outside decks, we are doing it throughout the inside. It takes time and patience. There is plenty of work for everyone. We need to save this historical landmark. The work is most gratifying and the views are spectacular.”

The red metal lighthouse roof had several areas that were rusting away and emergency repairs needed to be done to prevent the rain, lake and melting ice water from going down between the steel walls, rusting it and weakening the entire structure. The ALR&PS Vice-President Lloyd Bogue, hopes readers will appreciate the work these volunteers are doing. The lighthouse was very close to rusting away due to lack of maintenance for many years. People come to Ashtabula from all over the world hoping to be able not only to see the lighthouse from shore, but to actually go out and visit it.

The ALR&PS members recently had a surprise when they showed up for their monthly meeting at the old Ashtabula Coast Guard Station. They were treated to a personal visit out to the lighthouse where a meeting was held out on the lighthouse deck. Even handicapped walking members, with assistance, were able to make the trip. Visit our website at: www.ashtabulalighthouse.com to become a member.

Besides the volunteer workers, some of these pictures are of the Chesapeake Lighthouse Chapter group which visited Ashtabula a few weeks ago to tour only the Ashtabula Lighthouse and the Ashtabula Maritime Museum. As a one day tourists it is documented that they spent well over $1,300.00 while here. Tourists are big business to Ashtabula County. The pictures we are supplying hopefully will provide you, the readers, with a "peek" into the restoration work at the Ashtabula Lighthouse, as we try to make it safe for all future visitors to Ashtabula County. For more information visit our website at: www.ashtabulalighthouse.com