$44M Montauk Point Lighthouse restoration project complete after 2 years 

For more than two centuries, the unrelenting waves of the North Atlantic Ocean have crashed on the Montauk Point shoreline, creeping closer and closer toward New York’s oldest lighthouse.

State and federal officials on Wednesday announced that a two-year, $44 million project to fortify the shoreline surrounding the historic lighthouse with about 120,000 tons of rocks has been completed ahead of schedule.

At the same time, officials with the Montauk Historical Society, which owns and operates the property, celebrated the completion of the final phase of a separate lighthouse restoration project. The restoration focused largely on the tower's exterior, which had sustained damage from exposure to extreme weather.

“It was just sort of a lucky thing that all of these major projects came together [simultaneously],” said Mia Certic, the executive director of the historical society. “We’ve been working on trying to get all of them done for ages.”

The lighthouse, built in 1796, once stood about 297 feet from the edge of the bluff, Certic said. Erosion has withered that distance to about 95 feet.

In March 2021, work began on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project, in conjunction with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, to rebuild the rock revetment that protects the shoreline with new armor stones, some weighing more than 20 tons. The revetment was first engineered by the U.S. Coast Guard in 1991.

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said $28.7 million in federal funding went toward the project and H&L Contracting of Hauppauge completed the work. The state contributed the remaining $15.4 million.

Major stonework for the revetment was completed by December and the final project site restoration was finished in June, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

East Hampton Town Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc said Wednesday the "massive project" will allow the lighthouse to remain "for generations to come."

The lighthouse in recent years also underwent its largest construction project since 1860 when 30 feet was added to its height, Certic said.

The first phase, which involved repairing metal at the top of the tower, catwalk and lantern room and other work, was completed in 2019. The pandemic delayed work on the second phase — stripping layers of paint and coatings from the exterior's original sandstone. The final phase recently completed involved recoating the tower with a mineral compound that is breathable to prevent moisture from being trapped in the walls, according to the historical society.

"I think everybody is just feeling elated that it looks better than it's looked in years — and it should be sticking around for a good, long time, too," Certic said.

The work was funded through numerous grants and private donations totaling about $1.8 million. Certic said they exceeded their goal by $500,000. The surplus helped fund a restoration of the lighthouse museum to restore the building to its appearance in 1938 when it was destroyed by the hurricane of that year, she said.

Commissioned by President George Washington in 1792, the Montauk Point Lighthouse was named a National Historic Landmark in 2012 — a designation afforded to 12 lighthouses. The lighthouse’s 110-foot tower once served as a vital navigation aid for ships headed for New York Harbor and Long Island Sound.

“It’s one of the most historic visuals of Long Island,” Schumer said. “It stands for Long Island.”

By Joe Werkmeister

joe.werkmeister@newsday.com

Joe Werkmeister covers the towns of Southampton, East Hampton and Shelter Island. He is a graduate of St. Bonaventure University and previously worked as the editor of two North Fork community newspapers.

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