The U.S. Coast Guard recently announced that the property surrounding the Stratford Point Lighthouse, which it owns, will be closed until June, after lead paint was discovered on the structure. State Rep. Joe Gresko, D-Stratford, said residents can expect to see a spruced-up lighthouse once the remediation work is done.
“They’ll give it a new paint job. And it’ll look even better than it looks now,” Gresko said.
But the town, according to Gresko, wants to buy the land around the lighthouse for its own use. Gresko said the Coast Guard is open to selling off the lighthouse to the town. Mayor Laura Hoydick said the lighthouse is considered a town symbol.
Gresko recently walked around the lighthouse, which has seen better days. Its white color scheme with a distinctive brown band in the middle is now rusty. The brick and cast-iron lighthouse was constructed in 1880 by the Coast Guard after the original wooden structure was torn down by 1873. The federal government authorized the construction of a permanent structure.
The lighthouse has a long history, and so does the town’s efforts to acquire the land around it. Gresko said the town has long had an interest in buying the land. The Coast Guard, he said, has sold off lighthouses over the years due to automation.
While the lighthouse is still being worked on, the town hasn’t lost sight of its goal.
“The ultimate long-term goal of this is that the town would become the owner of the land,” Gresko said.
As for the actual work at the lighthouse, Rob Simpson, an assistant public affairs officer, said the remediation work has nothing to do with the nearby site of the former Remington Gun Club which also underwent remediation work.
“This remediation effort is not connected to the gun club,” Simpson said. “This project is to abate historic applications of lead-contaminated paint on the lighthouse and powerhouse as well as remove soil contamination stemming from historic application of lead-based paint on current and former structures.”
