Rock Island Lighthouse work begins

FISHERS LANDING — The $1.1 million renovation of the Rock Island Lighthouse has finally begun, and the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation hopes to transform the historic property into a tourist attraction by spring 2012.

Kevin A. Kieff, regional state parks director, said workers from his office are on the four-acre island building pathways, installing water and septic systems, and performing electrical work.

Over the next two construction seasons, outside contractors will be making structural improvements to the 163-year-old lighthouse and interior renovations to the keeper's home, and will be building a museum inside an existing house on the island.

Once work is complete, Mr. Kieff said, the regional office plans to hire tour guides and charge an admission fee to explore the lighthouse.

"We anticipate it to become very popular destination in the Thousand Islands," Mr. Kieff said, adding that several tour operations have already contacted him regarding plans for the site.

To accommodate larger tour boats, and to provide more dockage for smaller cruisers, the parks office also will install a 94-foot-long floating dock — with five finger docks branching out of it — at the eastern end of the island.

The island will remain open to visitors during construction, but public access may be limited on some weekdays this year and next year. Mr. Kieff said the project should not affect weekend trips, as the construction crew will be on the island only Mondays through Thursdays.

The parks office began developing a long-term rehabilitation program in 1978, the same year the lighthouse was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and applied for federal funding in 2001 for the million-dollar renovation project.

In October 2006, it received a $880,000 federal grant administered by the U.S. Department of Transportation. The remaining $220,000, or 20 percent, of the project's cost is matched by the state.

The 40-foot-tall lighthouse was built in 1847 by the U.S. government, reconstructed in 1882 and given to the state in 1977. The exterior of the deteriorating structure was last renovated in 1983 with $15,000 in public donations.