Starting to Look Like a House!

Rafters were added to the Keeper's House this week.

With the addition of rafters this week, the construction project next to the lighthouse is really starting to look like a house. And the exciting news is that it looks just like the old photos of the original Keeper's House!

This week we had two significant accomplishments that directly affect our Keeper's House Museum. First, the Franklin County Board of Commissioners approved an allocation of $28,000 in Tourist Development Council funds for the completion of the interior of the Keeper's House.

SGLA has raised $140,000 of the $150,000 needed for the exterior dry-in, and we hope to raise the last $10K in the next few months. But completion of the exterior will leave us with no funds for the interior, and the goal is for the museum to be operational by the summer tourist season.

Stepping in to save the day was our County Commissioner Pinki Jackel, who asked her fellow commissioners to approve the expenditure of a portion of the county's TDC infrastructure funds on the Keeper's House. Her request was unanimously approved, so we will have the money to meet our construction target. We will still need to raise the funds to outfit the museum space with displays, which we will do over time. A huge "thank you" goes to Commissioner Jackel and to TDC member Alice Collins, who has always been there to support our efforts.

The second piece of great news is that our continuing friend and benefactor Bill Roberts and his wife Verner paid us a visit this week and brought with them a kerosene heater of the vintage used when Bill lived on Little St. George Island as a child when his father was Assistant Keeper at Cape St. George. Bill found the heater in an antique shop, and recognizing it as a period piece similar to the one used in the Assistant Keeper's House, Bill acquired it for us. He is the greatest!

We thank Bill and Verner wholeheartedly, and would certainly like to encourage anyone else who has artifacts or memorabilia relating to "life at the Light" to consider a donation or loan to our new museum.

Posted by Administrator - Thursday, 11/19/09, 07:25 AM - Comments - Category: News