<p>North Head Lighthouse is ready for visitors again.</p>

ILWACO Passion for a local landmark and dedication to preserving it are beginning to pay off for Keepers of the North Head Lighthouse. 

The object of their affection an 1898 lighthouse designed by Carl Leick has been in a sorrowful state recently, showing noticeable signs of deterioration. After 113 years of mighty storms and salt spray, the huge sandstone blocks supporting the tower look downright cancerous.

In May, the structure was closed to tours due to corroded I-beams in the staircase. Since then, stairs have been stabilized by Washington State Parks and tours have resumed, but about $2 million in repairs still need to be completed in order to stabilize and preserve the beacon as a whole.

Though State Parks and The Keepers would like to get going on the project, what they can do is limited because the lighthouse is still property of the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG).

Back in 1993, Congress directed the USCG to transfer North Head, Cape Disappointment and Point Wilson lighthouses to the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission. But transferring ownership was complicated when soil samples taken from North Head confirmed the landscape is contaminated with confetti-sized flakes of old lead-based paint. The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980 requires USCG to address contamination issues before a title transfer can be processed.

Lead-contaminated soil isnt uncommon around lighthouses. Contaminated soil was removed at the Cape Disappointment Lighthouse about 10 years ago and Point Wilson Lighthouse property in Port Townsend also has lead-based paint contamination.

In April, the Washington State Department of Ecology (DOE) advised the need to remove the top six inches of earth and replace it with clean soil, grass and gravel. DOE proposed taking on this cleanup, but USCG declined the offer. 

Cleanup starts Monday

USCG now plans to start their own cleanup on Monday, Oct. 17. 

In a Sept. 26 email to DOE Toxics Cleanup Programs Barry Rogowski, USCG environmental engineer Peter (Don) Marini said the contractor for the project, White Shield, Inc., will take soil samples, excavate the areas containing contaminated soil and backfill the excavated areas with clean gravel or topsoil and sod. Marini predicted that the work will likely wrap up by Oct. 19. 

Rogowski says they will also install a French drain system, which should ward off many of the pesky puddles that often appear.

I think that its a nice example of federal, state, and local people working together to accomplish a common goal: trying to clean up, protect, and preserve these areas of cultural and historical significance, Rogowski says. I would give a lot of credit to the Keepers of North Head Lighthouse, because they did a lot of lobbying, they kept on the Department of Ecology and the Coast Guard, and made the phone calls and emails to get everyone stimulated on this thing.

Rogowski continues, The Coast Guard came around to seeing things our way, that things would be cheaper and easier in the long run rather than string out the bureaucracy for forever and a day. We showed them it was not that tough of a job; we gave them a clear path forward. There were three choices: we do it, they do it, or we make you do it. I think they made the right decision.

Upon DOEs acceptance of the cleanup efforts, USCG plans to transfer titles to State Parks for North Head and Cape Disappointment lighthouses, as well as title to Point Wilson Lighthouse. But Janet Easley, of Keepers of the North Head Lighthouse, says her group would prefer USCG to transfer Point Wilsons title to a group in the Port Townsend area.

Easley says that once State Parks has title to the lighthouse, the agency will submit to the Legislature a capital budget request for $2 million in repairs.

 

What needs to be done

In 2009, a University of Oregon Pacific Northwest Historic Preservation Field School assessment determined North Head will cost that amount to fix. Some of their recommendations included replacing the cracking and crumbling sandstone at the base, and tending to rust and deterioration at the lantern level.

In the North Head Lighthouse Historic Structures Report prepared by preservation architect Susan Licht, J. Scott Howells architectural metals assessment overview explains, Like other lighthouses on the Pacific Coast, the greatest amount of corrosion has occurred on the side facing the southwest. For the metalwork, the wrought iron gallery railing has deteriorated severely as well as some of the ladder rests. On the interior many of the rolled wrought iron beams are of great concern as they are exhibiting significant corrosion at the point of where the beam enters the masonry wall

Also listed as a high priority is repairing the stone on the tower; restoring the interior stucco; removing existing cement masonry stucco from and adding new natural cement stucco on all brick masonry walls; installing new heating and dehumidification units; and removing all inappropriate and inadequate electrical systems and provide new, hidden, and up to code electrical.

State Parks has secured funding to permanently fix the deteriorating I-beam in the stairway and to replace the lantern room windows. In the meantime, the Keepers of the North Head Lighthouse continue to fundraise for additional restoration plans. 

The Discover Pass has definitely impacted our sales at North Head, says Keeper Lona Niemi, referring to the new $35 annual fee for vehicle access to state parks. But the Keepers of North Head Lighthouse are gathering restoration funds through additional means, such as lighthouse tour donations and North Head Lighthouse merchandise sales at the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center gift shop. They also plan to apply for Lighthouse Environmental Programs funds, which are raised through lighthouse license plate sales.

Niemi says that as soon as additional funds are procured, the group would like to obtain historically correct doors for the lighthouse vestibule. 

The annual meeting of the Keepers of the North Head Lighthouse will be held at the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center at 10 a.m., Saturday, Oct. 22. Coinciding with the Graveyard of the Pacific annual observance, the meeting will host speaker Elinor DeWire, who has researched, photographed and written about lighthouses since 1972. Those who are interested in becoming members of the Keepers of North Head Lighthouse are especially encouraged to attend.