Park staff, others monitoring flaws at Presque Isle Lighthouse

Robb Frederick -

A proper restoration of the Presque Isle Lighthouse would cost more than $880,000, according to a 2007 architectural report -- the most recent detailed look at the structure.

That won't happen. State officials are not even certain that it should: A full restoration would return the lighthouse to its condition in 1911, 10 years after Andrew Shaw Jr. moved there to take care of it. The carpets and paneling would have to come out. So would the dishwasher in the kitchen.

"We knew when that study was finished there were certain things in it we wouldn't do," said Harry Leslie, the operations manager at Presque Isle State Park.

The report's author, Erie architect Jeff Kidder, figured as much. So he offered a second, lesser restoration plan, with a projected cost of about $450,000.

Nearly four years later, none of it has been done.

The state owns the lighthouse. The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources maintains it. Dorothy Krupa, an assistant manager at Presque Isle State Park, lives in the structure.

The U.S. Coast Guard operates the light, which has guided boat traffic on Lake Erie since 1873.

The lighthouse was built well. The 57-foot tower is five bricks thick. But the age of the structure is beginning to show. There are rust stains on the paint, and cracks in the masonry. A lower window is covered with a board. Three of the chimneys have loose bricks.

"The building has never really been neglected," Kidder said. "But it does need to be cleaned up, and correctly. You have to respect a building like that. It's not a vinyl-sided box that you can just power wash every five years."

The look of the building has changed since 1873. The red brick tower was whitewashed to make it easier to see during the day. The top of the tower was raised 17 feet: By 1896, the trees around it had grown too tall.

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