PORTLAND, Maine — Have you had to replace windows lately in your home? Anyone who has knows that it’s an expensive proposition. Now imagine what it’s like to replace them on an island two and a half miles out to sea that doesn’t even have a dock.
The volunteers with the nonprofit Friends of Seguin Island Light Station don’t have to imagine. The group, which maintains virtually everything on the uninhabited island off the mouth of the Kennebec River in Georgetown, faces some daunting—and costly—repairs.
Rich in history and natural beauty, Seguin has been home to a lighthouse since President George Washington commissioned one there in 1793. The island is open to the public but difficult to access, and since the Coast Guard now maintains only the foghorn and light, the Friends organization takes care of everything else, including the lighthouse keeper’s home.
Doing any type of work on an island is soberingly expensive. Just getting materials there is a major undertaking. To add to the cost, Seguin Light is on the National Register of Historic Places so all repairs to the lighthouse keeper’s building have to meet certain historic and aesthetic requirements. The price of one window, for instance, is about $10,000. The building has more than twenty of them, all of which need to be replaced.
Not surprisingly, the Friends organization is in the middle of a major fundraising campaign. The goal is $3.5 million.
Board members Read Armstrong and Tip Koehler joined us on 207 to talk about why people feel so strongly about preserving Seguin and what it will take to do that. Watch our conversation to learn more.