ATHENS, N.Y. (AP) — Federal engineers will begin work to preserve a functioning 150-year-old lighthouse that sits precariously on a mudflat in the middle of New York’s Hudson River, officials announced Monday.
U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer and the Army Corps of Engineers said $50,000 has been allocated to study how the Hudson-Athens Lighthouse, which was commissioned in 1874 and this year listed among the nation’s 11 by the National Trust for Historic Preservation was posted. most endangered historical places.
Schumer, a New York Democrat, said he believes the development is the next step in securing all the money needed to save the structure, which is just years away from crumbling into the river due to persistent erosion, according to preliminary studies by a historic preservation group.
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“This is a landmark, it’s like the Hudson River Statue of Liberty in a way,” Schumer told The Associated Press by phone after announcing new funding for a riverfront park in Athens, New York, that will include a view of the lighthouse. “When people see the lighthouse and learn its history, they learn the history of the country.”
The Corps of Engineers will now meet with the Hudson-Athens Lighthouse Preservation Society, which owns the building and maintains it as a museum, and agree on a plan to repair the property, Schumer said.
He said the millions of dollars needed to eventually rebuild and preserve the small island are “almost certain” because it is listed as a top conservation priority.
The lighthouse was built on the river, 100 miles (161 kilometers) north of Manhattan, to prevent boats from running aground on the mudflats between Athens, on the west side of the Hudson River, and the city of Hudson, on the east side. The lighthouse is still in use, but now with an automated LED beacon.
It sits on about 200 wooden piles, wrapped in mud underwater. The turbulence from passing commercial ships washes away the mud and exposes the piles to river water, accelerating decay.
The association has proposed expanding the foundation on which the lighthouse is built so that events can be held and more visitors can walk around the island at the same time. Funds have been raised to build a corrugated steel ring designed to protect the structure from river turbulence.
There were about 1,500 lighthouses in the US at the turn of the 20th century, and according to the US Lighthouse Society, only about 800 remain.
