City lands $2.2M grant to restore lighthouse

PORT WASHINGTON - Port Washington’s iconic lighthouse will be refurbished next year, Mayor Ted Neitzke said Tuesday as he announced the city has received a $2.2 million grant to pay for the work.

“I’m very excited about that,” Neitzke said, given the importance of the lighthouse to the city. “Restoring it to its original state is going to be critical.”

It’s especially exciting, he said, because next year is the 90th anniversary of the lighthouse construction.

News that the city has been awarded a Transportation Alternative Program grant for historic building preservation from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation was greeted with applause by aldermen.

“Sweet,” Ald. Deb Postl said.

Ald. Dan Benning said, “$2.2 million —it’s beyond my wildest dreams. We’ve been struggling with how to fund it (restoration of the lighthouse). It’s got to get done. We own it.”

“I’m really excited about this,” Ald. Jonathan Pleitner said. “It will give us the opportunity to get the lighthouse to shine the way residents deserve it to shine.”

Neitzke said refurbishing the lighthouse has “been my priority since I got elected. For me, what’s so important is this is our symbol and it’s not been symbolic of what we are.”

Port Washington’s lighthouse, which is a symbol of the community and a draw for tourists, has fallen into disrepair since the city took ownership of the light in 2018.

The structure, which is on the National and State Registers of Historic Places, requires painting, a task made difficult because it is currently covered in lead paint and remediation is costly.

Lead paint chips can’t be allowed to fall in the water, and the city can’t just tent the 63-feet-tall structure while doing the work because the lighthouse is a navigational aid and the light needs to be exposed all the time.

And while it may seem easy to remove all the paint, prime the lighthouse and paint it, it can’t be done that way. That’s because the moisture in the air will start corroding the metal structure quickly — so quickly that the structure can’t be left unpainted even overnight or it will begin to corrode and the paint will peel in a short time, according to Legacy Architecture of Sheboygan, the city’s consultant on the project.

Another complicating factor is the fact the lighthouse is at the end of a half-mile-long breakwater, making it difficult to access with equipment.

In addition to painting, the lighthouse requires structural work, the porthole windows need to be replaced or refurbished, asbestos that is likely contained in the plaster walls and ceilings must be dealt with and the city needs to ensure there’s adequate ventilation inside the lighthouse to prevent deterioration.

City officials have been searching for ways to fund the repairs, but the high cost at a time when other expensive projects are also being considered has made this a difficult task.

Neitzke credited Public Works Director Rob Vanden Noven for securing the grant.

“He’s our tenacious guy,” Neitzke said.

Vanden Noven said he’s been searching for grants to finance the lighthouse project, adding Melissa Curran of Stantec, an engineering consultant the city has worked with, told him about this “relatively obscure” grant.

He also credited City Engineer Roger Strohm with helping to complete the grant application.

The grant will cover $2.2 million of the $2.8 million cost of refurbishing the lighthouse, and Neitzke said the city will look at reducing the cost and finding money in the budget to pay the balance.

He said he will also urge aldermen to set aside funds each year for a lighthouse maintenance fund so the structure doesn’t deteriorate in the future.

Vanden Noven said he anticipates the  city will include the roughly $600,000 not covered by the grant in the 2025 budget, especially since the bulk of the cost will be paid for by the state.

“It’s just great to get that kind of money,” he said. “It’s phenomenal.”

Private fundraisers were held to support the lighthouse project when the city acquired the structure in 2018, raising about $40,000, Neitzke said. This money will likely be spent on upgrading the lighting and improvements not covered by the grant.

Strohm said the city will seek bids for the lighthouse project in early October, with bids due on Dec. 3.

The Board of Public Works is expected to review the bids and select a contractor on Dec. 10, he said, adding he anticipates work will begin in mid-April.

“If they get good weather, they’re probably done in 45 days,” he said.

But if work has to be stopped temporarily for weather, it could take much longer.

“We want to hit this early in the year,” Strohm said, since there is a limited number of contractors with expertise in this type of work.

The Common Council on Tuesday approved an addendum to its contract with Legacy to update construction documents and provide administration services during construction.