The lighthouse as it sits today.PORT AUSTIN, MI (WNEM) -
U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced Wednesday the transfer of a historic lighthouse in Michigan to local partners under the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act.
The Port Austin Reef Lighthouse Association, a Michigan non-profit organization, will take ownership of the Port Austin Light Station on Lake Huron.
"[The] lighthouse [is] a significant part of the maritime history of Lake Huron," Secretary Salazar said. "I commend the Port Austin Reef Lighthouse Association for their interest and ability to preserve and maintain [the] historic icon for the educational and cultural benefit of future generations."
The NHLPA was enacted in 2000 as a means to transfer historic light stations no longer occupied by the Coast Guard to any federal, state or local agency, nonprofit, or community development organization that can best protect them and guarantee their preservation and continued public use.
New owners must demonstrate that the lighthouse will be used for recreation or educational purposes. A model for inter-agency cooperation, the NHLPA program is a partnership between the Coast Guard, the General Services Administration, and the National Park Service. Since 2000, more than 60 historic light stations have been transferred at no cost to qualified entities, ensuring that the public can continue to enjoy these valued places.
The Port Austin Light Station, constructed in 1899 on top of a reef in Lake Huron, is a sixty foot tall, square, brick tower that sits atop a concrete platform 1.3 miles off of the shoreline. The Port Austin Reef Lighthouse Association's application provided a concise preservation and public use plan for the lighthouse, which has long served as an important aid to navigation in the shipping lanes of Lake Huron. The Port Austin Light Station was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2011.
Copyright WNEM 2012 (Meredith Corporation). All rights reserved.
