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To stabilize Plum Island Lighthouse, officials seek money from federal government

Members from the town’s Historic Preservation Committee are seeking the town’s help to preserve the Plum Island Lighthouse.

Jamie Garretson, chairman of the Historic Preservation Committee, said the top portion of the lighthouse is rusting and quickly deteriorating. Rather than asking for money from the town, the committee requested town officials write letters to officials in Homeland Security and at other government agencies asking them to do something to help stabilize the structure.

“We know that there’s not ever enough money to rehab it totally at this point, but we would like at least enough money to stabilize it until such time,” Mr. Garretson said.

The inside of the lighthouse has asbestos, he said, making it that much more difficult to improve the building.

Built in 1869, the lighthouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2011.

Mr. Garretson and Ted Webb, who narrates the annual East End Seaport Museum lighthouse tour, asked the town last year to designate Plum Island lighthouse and Fort Terry as town landmarks to put pressure on the federal government to better maintain the sites.

Supervisor Scott Russell said at Tuesday’s Town Board work session that he would reach out to Mark Woolley from Congressman Lee Zeldin’s office to coordinate a meeting and figure out a way to stabilize the historic lighthouse.

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