Bright white lighthouse unveiled

Visitors to the Port Washington lakefront during the past week have gotten a glimpse of the city’s iconic lighthouse with its new coat of bright white paint.

But while the black shroud that encapsulated the lighthouse is gone, work on the Art Deco-style structure is still ongoing, as evidenced by the scaffolding surrounding it.

“They don’t have to worry about lead paint going into the lake anymore, so they could take the shroud off,” Port City Engineer Roger Strohm said.

“The scaffolding will be up for some time yet.”

That’s because crews still need to repair the 20-foot-square concrete base of the lighthouse, primarily the areas around the arches where concrete has spalled.

Those areas will be patched, along with minor cracks “here and there,” Strohm said.

There are also some holes in the concrete, perhaps from crews taking samples of the breakwater in the past, that need to be filled, he said.

“Those might have been done 20 years ago or they might have been done a few years ago,” Strohm said.

In addition to the patching, a light coat of paint or stain will be placed on the base to cover the graffiti stains, he said.

In addition, crews need to do some minor sealing or caulking between metal plates on the outside of the lighthouse and the railings need to be repainted, he said.

Repairing the portholes is another piece of the restoration that has yet to be done. Strohm said the city is still looking for the right type of glass to repair those windows, noting the glass is about an inch thick and has been etched through contact with the waves through the years.

“Because it’s a historic structure, you can’t just go down to the window replacement shop and get a piece of glass,” he said. “It’s got to be as close as possible to 1935 glass.

“It has to be close to the same degree of clarity.”

Strohm said he anticipates the lighthouse will be completed and the east end of the breakwater reopened by October.

“I want to make sure it’s done by then,” he said.

The lighthouse, which was built in 1935, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The $2.6 million restoration project is being paid primarily through a $2.2 million Transportation Alternative Program grant for historic building preservation from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation.

Private fundraisers were held to support the project when the city acquired the structure in 2018, raising about $40,000 that officials have said will likely be spent to upgrade the lighting and for improvements not covered by the grant.

The lighthouse has been a symbol of the city for decades, a navigational fixture that has been used by both government and businesses in their logos.

But it has fallen into disrepair since the city acquired it from the federal government in 2018 despite a city pledge to maintain the structure.