Work to repair storm damage on Fire Island Lighthouse to begin

Work will begin Tuesday on the Fire Island Lighthouse after high winds and storm damage forced its closure in March.

Officials with the Fire Island National Seashore at Robert Moses State Park have hired a contractor to start demolition on damaged concrete and debris at the base of the 165-year-old lighthouse.

Contractors will begin removing the shotcrete panels wrapping around the original brick structure, facilities manager for the park Jim Dunphy said.

“The wind behind the storm exposed the brick and the concrete shroud has been slowly failing,” Dunphy said. “This is not something that happened overnight. This has been slowly happening over decades.”

The lighthouse has been closed since March 4 and there is no estimated date when it may reopen. The Fire Island Preservation Society that helps maintain the lighthouse hopes that preliminary repairs may be enough to open sometime in August and salvage the end of the summer.

“Once they get the debris down and are able to stabilize the tower, we hope we can reopen the lighthouse,” said Tony Femminella, executive director of the preservation society.

He noted that the Keeper’s Quarters museum, the boathouse and lens building, featuring the original lens from 1858 to 1933, remain open. A portion of the boardwalk leading to the lighthouse was closed near where debris was falling.

A portion of the outer lining of the lighthouse, which makes up the famous black and white daymark exterior, released from the brick tower is now leaning against the building next door. The sprayed-on concrete surface was applied nearly 40 years ago and was never meant to last forever, Dunphy said. The shroud of concrete covers the entire height of the 168-foot lighthouse and “acts like a curtain” to protect more than 800,000 bricks, he said.

Long-term repairs are still in the design phase, but crews plan to stabilize the base of the lighthouse and secure it with wire cables. The cost to remove debris and to stabilize the lighthouse is estimated at about $385,000, Dunphy said. The lighthouse and seashore are funded through the National Park Service.

The lighthouse tower was deemed structurally-sound after engineering studies, Dunphy said.

The closure of the lighthouse has been difficult on the preservation society heading into the prime of summer, Femminella said. Part of the society's budget is funded by fees for admission to the lighthouse tower.

“It’s really hit us hard financially,” he said. “That’s what keeps the lighthouse operating. We pay the day-to-day bills and that’s what keeps us going.”

The preservation society was formed to save the lighthouse from being demolished in the 1970s, Femminella said.

Even with modern advances in maritime navigation, he said the lighthouse still serves as a beacon off Fire Island to ships offshore. He said it has also become a historical attraction to visitors from Fire Island who can see the vast waters from the top of the lighthouse.

“It still serves as an aide to private navigation and people still look for it. That’s why we leave the light on,” Femminella said. “People really have a passion for the lighthouse. It signifies our maritime history.”

By John Asbury

john.asbury@newsday.comJohnAsbury

John Asbury is a breaking news and general assignment reporter. He has been with Newsday since 2014 and previously worked at The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California.