East Hampton lighthouse 'labor of love' keeps trudging with new funding

When architect Lee Skolnick thinks about the future of Cedar Island Lighthouse, he envisions a museum with exhibits that highlight its unique maritime history. 

The lighthouse, which was built in 1868 and overlooks Gardiners Bay as a gateway to Sag Harbor, for decades has sat in disrepair on county land in East Hampton Town.

Restoration efforts have moved at a glacial pace. But Skolnick said he hasn't lost sight of the end goal since Suffolk County in 2017 tasked his Manhattan-based firm, Skolnick Architecture + Design Partnership, with leading the preservation efforts.

“There’s a very rich history which should be told,” the architect added.

Earlier this year the Suffolk County Legislature put $175,000 from its 2023 capital budget toward the restoration. The latest funding comes six years after a celebratory announcement that the legislature had budgeted $500,000 toward fixing the roof and the structure's exterior.

But Skolnick called the progress a “slow, long, grind” and said the future of the site remains foggy.

Efforts to restore the lighthouse, which was decommissioned in 1934, date back more than two decades. Suffolk County Parks bought the property in 1967, and a fire in 1974 gutted the lighthouse's hardwood interior before it became a frequent target of vandals. 

Legis. Bridget Fleming (D-Noyac) said the county is spending about $4 million on the renovation in phases, with the structure's stabilization taking precedence.

Skolnick said the exterior has been stabilized with the use of scaffolding that is holding the interior stone walls in place. The next phase will involve restoring the integrity of the stone, which will require skilled laborers to work on granite blocks that “have suffered hundreds of years of wear and tear," the architect said.

The property is a nesting ground for piping plovers, which are endangered in New York, limiting the time when workers can access the site. Winter weather also presents a challenging work environment, and accessing the remote site with large equipment also can be difficult, according to Skolnick.

Visitors to the lighthouse have to park and trek more than a mile across the peninsula from the entrance of Cedar Point County Park to reach the structure.

“It’s not moving as quickly as we would love it to,” Fleming said of the project. “But I’m pleased to say it is continuing. You kind of have to keep pushing on these things because there are so many historic structures around the county in dire need.”

In 2017, a group called Friends of Cedar Island Lighthouse announced a campaign to fundraise for the restoration with a goal of transforming it into a bed and breakfast — plans that never gained traction.

Michael Leahy, the group’s chairperson, said fundraising was difficult for a government-owned property and that the organization “hasn’t been as active recently as it had been.”

But Leahy said he’s hopeful the group can recommit to its mission if the county's restoration plan progresses.

Skolnick acknowledged government funding can go only so far on a project he described as "a labor of love."

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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