Lighthouse open after makeover

Newly painted and spruced up, the Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse reopened Wednesday after being closed for 16 days.

The 105-step lighthouse, first lit in 1860, closes every year around this time for maintenance, and this year, the interior of the lighthouse tower was painted along with the railings, gallery deck, walkways and steps on the exterior.

“It’s very special paint. It takes four days to dry,” said Jamie Stuve, the president and CEO of the Loxahatchee River Historical Society, which oversees and maintains the lighthouse, museum and other historical buildings on the north side of the Jupiter Inlet. The U.S. Coast Guard owns the lighthouse.

The lighthouse light was shut down Wednesday and Thursday nights during Hurricane Matthew. It marked the first time in Stuve’s Bill DiPaolo 15-year tenure that historical society officials deliberately shut down the lighthouse light. The light had been shut down in previous years for maintenance, Stuve said.

“We packed the light and moved it to a safe location. It can’t be replaced,” Stuve said.

The 6,000-pound lighthouse lens was repaired last year. The cost was about $8,000 for recoating of the putty and cleaning and repositioning of some of the 397 glass prisms in the lens.

This year, installing shutters — about 600 to the museum, Tyndall House, lighthouse keepers workshop and three U.S. Coast Guard buildings — was a major task. The historical artifacts from inside the buildings also were removed and later put back, Stuve said.

“Everybody rolled up their sleeves to help. Putting up the shutters was really timeconsuming,” said Kathleen Glover, assistant director for the Loxahatchee River Historical Society.

The historical society has a $1.2 million annual operating budget to maintain the lighthouse, grounds and other historical buildings. The money is raised from admission fees, donations, grants and revenue from the gift shop.

“We even make our own fudge and sell it,” Stuve said.

Being closed for 16 days cut off revenue from admissions and the gift shop. The historical society also had to pay for the repairs, as well as storage of the equipment because of Matthew.

The society is currently trying to get permission from the U.S. Coast Guard for roof repairs to the lighthouse. The cost would be about $80,000.

“Right now, we really need new members and donors to help, and people to come pay admission and buy things at our gift shop,” Stuve said.