Historic Lighthouse Gets Fresh Paint, Grants, Donors Made Work Possible

CAPE MAY – For some homeowners, getting atop a step ladder to paint a wall or ceiling brings a fear of falling. 
Consider the painter wearing a safety harness perched on a high lift. He was applying “mortar wash” color with a roller to the bricks of the 157.5-foot Cape May Lighthouse.
That painter labored May 9 using a long roller to apply the authentic color paint to the historic lighthouse that remains a Coast Guard aid to navigation at the mouth of Delaware Bay.
According to a release, the exterior of the Cape May Lighthouse is being given a fresh coat of paint since the Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts & Humanities (MAC) has contracted with Eastern Industrial Services, of Delaware, using grant funding and donations that approach the approximately $130,000 for the job.
Owned by the State of New Jersey, Department of Environmental Protection (Division of Parks & Forestry), the Cape May Lighthouse has been leased to MAC since 1986.
The project went to bid earlier this year, and Eastern Industrial Services was the low bidder.
Eastern Industrial Services began work April 12, and the project is estimated to be completed by the end of May.
A National Maritime Heritage Grant from the National Park Service of $50,000 is serving as a matching grant to a $50,000 grant awarded last year from the Cape May County Open Space Board’s Historic Preservation Grant Program.
In addition to grant funds, MAC received a $5,000 grant from South Jersey Industries to help complete the lighthouse painting.
Also, some $20,000 was raised by MAC efforts, including donations from the public via a donation box at the foot of the spiral staircase at the lighthouse, and from Friends of the Lighthouse, an affinity group of MAC devoted to the preservation of the Cape May Lighthouse.
That group raised thousands of dollars through special events and projects, including annual Christmas in July at the lighthouse July 25.
The project consists of the preparation and exterior painting of the Cape May Lighthouse, which is on the State and National Register of Historic Places.
The scope of work includes, but is not limited to:
Pressure washing and paint preparation of the masonry and steel structure.
Cleaning and paint preparation of wood doors and windows.
Minor repointing of brick masonry. Painting of the masonry, steel and wood structure.
The detailed project manual was prepared by MAC’s restoration architects, HMR Architects, of Princeton. The project package specifies the types of paint identified in the project manual that are acceptable to use for a historic lighthouse structure and on each material to be painted: masonry, wood, and metal.
The Cape May Lighthouse color, “mortar wash,” is its historic “daymark” and must be exactly matched.
The last time the lighthouse was painted was in 1993-94.
Then, MAC undertook two phases of the Cape May Lighthouse’s restoration, funded by grants of $328,640 in ISTEA funds administered by the state Department of Transportation covering the exterior masonry restoration (including repainting in original colors) of the Lighthouse Tower and $284,805 by the New Jersey Historic Trust covering the complete restoration of the Lighthouse Lantern.
“MAC is the steward of the Cape May Lighthouse, a beloved icon of the Cape May landscape and history, and works hard to maintain it,” stated MAC Director Michael Zuckerman.
“This repainting project is a very important part of the lighthouse’s ongoing maintenance. Once complete, the project will help to protect the Cape May Lighthouse from the harsh seaside elements and maintain it for visitors to continue to enjoy.
“Every year nearly 76,000 visitors pay to climb with perhaps that many more visiting the ground floor and the Oil House, or reading our interpretive panels without climbing. Some 2.5 million visitors have climbed the Cape May Lighthouse since MAC opened it to the public in May of 1988.
“It has always been and continues to be MAC’s single most popular attraction, and it is the main focus of our school programs on maritime history, which we provide to thousands of schoolchildren in Atlantic, Cape May and Cumberland counties classrooms every year for free.”