Cumberland County Lighthouse Gets Upgrades, Will Function As Museum
MAURICE RIVER TOWNSHIP, NJ (CBS) -- The second oldest lighthouse in the state of New Jersey is getting a new lease on life, thanks to some South Jersey volunteers and $850,000 in grant money to fix the place up. Plans are to hold a grand re-opening in two weeks.
It took getting Cumberland County officials to cut through the red tape and get the money to pay for repairs. While the outside of the East Point Lighthouse was good, the inside wasn't. It hadn't been lived in since the 1940's, and in the early 70's, vandalism took its toll.
"The building had experienced a very, very devastating fire and the roof was left open for a while. So they were able to get it closed back in," Nancy Patterson, President of the Maurice (sic) River Historical Society, told KYW Newsradio. "And then on top of that there was vandalism and just years and years of it being open to people to climb in and do as they will."
The light at the top of the building, built in 1849, has been functioning since the early 1980's and there had been ongoing efforts to help improve the inside.
While it might have taken several years to get the funding in place, it took just one year to actually get the interior repairs done, with one concession to the needs of the 21st Century. Climate control.
"There's so much humidity in the air that there was concern that the interior work would not hold up if the humidity wasn't dealt with," Patterson added.
Right now, the lighthouse opens limited hours for tours two weekends a month, but she hopes an influx of volunteers will help to expand that schedule. And a refurbished lighthouse might actually spur some interest in economic development.