After being awarded the opportunity to purchase the Fairport Harbor West Lighthouse in 2011, I was given 60 days by the General Services Administration to meet the requirements established for ownership. There were two main requirements that had to be completed in that timeframe. First, I needed to procure sufficient insurance to meet their specifications and second, I had to complete the lease arrangements with the US Army Corps of Engineers for access to the platform.
One of the key components of the lease is that access to the lighthouse must be given to the Coast Guard whenever necessary because the beacon on top of the lighthouse remains an “active aid to navigation.” As lighthouses have done for hundreds of years, Fairport Harbor West Lighthouse provides a strong beam of light to guide mariners across Lake Erie – particularly in times of inclement weather. While Coast Guard Station Fairport, which is located at the mouth of the Grand River at the entrance to Lake Erie, keeps an eye on the water at all times, the light itself is maintained by the Coast Guard’s Aid to Navigation Team (ANT), which is based in Buffalo, NY. While this might not seem to make sense, the beacons providing the light in lighthouses today are highly sophisticated electrical equipment and need specialized technicians to install and maintain them.
The current beacon at Fairport Harbor West, shown in the photo, was crafted in Finland and is run by solar power. The large solar panel situated on the south side of the platform generates the power, which is stored in a battery bank located just under the beacon. Should anything go wrong with this system, the Aid to Navigation Team makes the journey from Buffalo for the repairs.
In addition to the extensive Coast Guard equipment that the lighthouse has, it also supports a National Weather Service weather station. The National Weather Service, a division of the Department of Commerce’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), collects weather data from hundreds of weather stations around the country. Fairport Harbor West Lighthouse, known in the weather world as FAI01, generates real time weather data such as air temperature, wind speed and wind direction. So in addition to guiding ships and boaters on the lake, the lighthouse also serves an important role in tracking weather conditions and providing that information to researchers and beachgoers alike.
Many people ask me about the original Fresnel mechanism that likely supplied the light when the lighthouse was first lit on June 9, 1925. Unfortunately, I don’t know what happened to it. It would be nice to think that the Coast Guard replaced it at some point and has it neatly packed away in storage. However, I haven’t yet been able to find out if that is true. In the meantime, the current light continues to shine every day and serve the purpose for which it was intended. It also serves as a giant nightlight for my new summer home.
