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Charlotte-Genesee Lighthouse Repairs Progress

Charlotte-Genesee Lighthouse Historical Society

The lantern room is back where it belongs on top of the tower of the Charlotte-Genesee Lighthouse.

Workers on Thursday reattached the top of the tower as part of restoration work at the 189 year old lighthouse. A metal plate had to be refurbished, a brick collar was reinforced and other repairs were made.

Tom Clayton is the Historic Facilities Manager for the lighthouse. He says the renovations on the top of the tower involved a lot of work.

"You have to have a crane and the plate was built in the 1850s and how it set there and all of the spots that it had to, niches and notches that it had to set in, had to be exact."

Next week the lens on the light itself will be replaced, and when that happens, the lighthouse will again be an official aid to navigation, in partnership with the Coast Guard and Homeland Security.

The entire project will cost about $189,000, which is being raised through a combination of private money and funding from Monroe County. Clayton says an anonymous donor contributed more than $30,000.

The tower of lighthouse dates back to 1822. The lantern room is a replica of the original, and was built in the 1980s. The lighthouse is maintained by the Charlotte-Genesee Lighthouse Historical Society.

Randy Gorbman is WXXI's director of news and public affairs. Randy manages the day-to-day operations of WXXI News on radio, television, and online.