Benefit slated for lighthouse

From delmarvanow.com

On Friday, Nov. 26, the popular local musical group Three Sheets will play a benefit concert for the Assateague Light-house Restoration Fund. Tickets cost $20 and all proceeds go to the restoration fund.

The concert will be in the auditorium of the Herbert H. Bateman Visitor Center on the Wildlife Refuge at 7 p.m.

The Assateague Lighthouse features prominently in the Town of Chincoteague official decal. The original Fresnel lens from the lighthouse is the most treasured item in the Museum of Chincoteague Island. The lighthouse image is used by many local businesses and homeowners as representative of Assateague Island's lure to tourists.

Yet this historic landmark is suffering from 143 years of salt rain and blowing sand. Its light is still a vital aid to navigation, shining the familiar double flash 22 miles out to sea. As a cultural resource on Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge, it is a protected national treasure, but little government money is available to preserve the building.

Years of corrosion caused leaking of the window wall around the light and damage to mortar in the interior walls. Rusting threatened the collapse of the gallery and now causes windows to crack.

Urgently needed restoration work was done in 2009 to stop the leaks and repair the gallery. Now extensive work on the exterior brickwork is required. Layers of lead-based paint must be removed before repair of mortar in the brickwork can be completed. All of this is in a 140-foot tall chimney. The latest cost estimate is another $750,000.

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