An iconic working lighthouse could soon be yours for just $1, provided you have a plan to preserve it.
The federal government plans to sell the Breakwater Light off Fenwick Point, the lighthouse featured on the state’s “Save the Sound” license plates, for just $1. It sits at the end of a 1/2-mile long jetty at the mouth of the Connecticut River.
The proposed sale is part of the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Program, which is designed to transfer the burden of maintaining historic Coast Guard lighthouses from the federal government to private entities or cities and towns.
The program includes 300 lighthouses. Since 2000, 43 have been or are in the process of being transferred.
Potential owners of the 50-foot lighthouse in Old Saybrook, in service since 1886, will be screened by the National Park Service.
When town leaders learned that Breakwater Light, also known as Outer Light, will soon be available, they contacted the federal government to say they’re interested in buying it.
“That outer lighthouse is the symbol of Old Saybrook, and we should own it or at least take a look at it,” said First Selectman Michael Pace.
The lighthouse is one of two built off Lynde Point in the 1800s. A second light, called Lynde Point Light, but more commonly known as the Inner Light, was built about 75 years before the Outer Light.
Together, the two lighthouses mark the harbor channel at the river’s mouth and are still important navigational aids for local boaters and sailors, Pace said.
“It’s key to navigation when you’re coming in at night or when it’s foggy,” he said. Both houses have lights that flash every few seconds.
The land on which the Inner Light sits is used by the Coast Guard and is not part of the preservation program.
Under the lighthouse preservation program, the Coast Guard would maintain the lighting and equipment in the lighthouse, while whatever agency or entity buys it would preserve the building.
A notice of availability will be issued sometime in the 2008 federal fiscal year, which starts in October. The entire process, including final transfer of the lighthouse, could take more than a year.
