Lighthouse lens ready to return to duty at Presque Isle

Lighthouse lens ready to return to duty at Presque Isle The fourth order Fresnel lens that was removed from the New Presque Isle Lighthouse by the U.S. Coast Guard in May, 2003 has been refurbished and can now be returned to the tower. Before that happens it will most likely take a special act of congress as the Coast Guard is reluctant to become responsible for maintaining expensive antique equipment such as the Fresnel lenses. The Fresnel lens is the 1822 invention of French physicist Augustine Fresnel. Most lenses were handmade and shipped unassembled from France. Engineers knew that while an open flame lost nearly 97 percent of its light, and a flame with reflectors behind it still lost 83 percent of its light, the Fresnel lens was able to capture all but 17 percent of the light source. Because of its amazing efficiency, a Fresnel lens could easily throw its light more than 20 miles out to sea.

THE NEED to clearly identify each lighthouse was provided by a specific number of flashes per minute. Although sometimes lighthouses identified themselves by using colored light, most made use of a flash of light, followed by a period of darkness. This pattern was called the lighthouse?s ?characteristic.? Once electricity was introduced, a light could use a flashing mechanism to give it a unique characteristic flash pattern. Now a ship?s captain could tell where he was by looking at a map and the flash pattern of the light. The Presque Isle Township Parks and Recreation Committee has been responsible for the recovery and refurbishing of the nautical artifact. When it was taken out of the lighthouse, the unit was cannibalized to take parts to use in other units around the country. Chairman Les Nichols pointed out that this action also made it more difficult to recover for restoration.

The total cost of the restoration, including the anticipated cost of installing it back in the lighthouse is about $61,000, according Nichols. The Parks and Recreation Committee consists of Pete Pettalia, representing the township, Molly Benson, Judy Kimball, Bill Lewis, Nichols, Clayton Peters, and Harriet Poch. The group meets monthly to update each other and plan the next course of action.

NICHOLS NOTED that the most recent correspondence from the Coast Guard indicated that the lens was not up to operational standards but has not given specific details as to what the standards are. ?It will require further action by Sen. Carl Levin and his colleagues in the Senate to direct the Coast Guard to re-install the original lens in the lighthouse,? Nichols said. He pointed out that the Coast Guard is mainly concerned about the other 80 or so Fresnel lens that are in various states of disrepair in other lighthouses around the country. ?They are not so much opposed to our request as to the precedent that it may establish that could obligate them to commit to costly repairs and restoration. In our case, we came up with the money from private sources and will maintain it the same way but they may be afraid that it could lead to other communities demanding the Coas

t Guard do the same thing and pay for it in other places,? he continued. He said that special legislation such as that supported by Sen. Levin would allow the Coast Guard to give a green light to the Presque Isle Parks and Recreation Committee and still maintain their policy elsewhere. Nichols also said a special iron pedestal was cleaned and refurbished by Moran Iron Works and would be replaced once the lens was ready to go into the tower. There are some windows at the top of the tower that need replacing and a large crane from Moran would be used at that time to lift the pedestal back to the top of the lighthouse.

The earliest opportunity to accomplish the work would be in May. The paperwork in dealing with government offices can be daunting. Nichols said he has collected and filled four large notebooks of correspondence over the last few years. ?We are dealing directly with Admiral Thomas Collins, the commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard, but he is a man of few words and that is how he has directed his staff to deal with us as well. It is obvious by their words and actions that they are adamant about not wanting the lens back,? he concluded.