New Basin Canal Lighthouse Re-Lit

After seven years of deconstruction, design, fund-raising, and almost exactly seven months of construction, the New Canal Lighthouse beacon has been re-lit on September 26th, 2012.  The lighting was originally scheduled to be on the anniversary of Katrina, but was postponed due to Hurricane Isaac, which the new lighthouse survived with relatively little damage, despite the site being flooded.  The light had been extinguished since the old lighthouse collapsed in a storm in 2005, after being knocked off its foundation by Hurricane Katrina.  That lighthouse had stood in its present location since 1890, pre-dating even the land around it.

Since the coast guard had stopped using the lighthouse shortly before its destruction, the rebuilding effort has been spearheaded by the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation.   Funding has been helped by significant donations from the community, as well as free windows and doors from Jeld-wen, the result of winning their public online voting contest in 2008.  While previous donations have been generous, more is needed to finish out the interior and grounds to open to the public.  Donations can be made at the LPBF website, here.

Links are below:

Video of the lighthouse during Hurricane Isaac at cnn.com

More historical information on the Lighthouse at LighthouseFriends.com

Action Report: Re-Lighting the Lighthouse at wwltv.com

Residents celebrate lighting of New Canal Lighthouse at Fox8live.com

Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation's lighthouse events canceled at nola.com

More Information at the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation at saveourlake.org

More Stories on the Lighthouse on the HMS Architects Blog

More Information on the Lighthouse on the HMS website