Posted by Sigh on May 13, 2008 at 16:14:54:
In Reply to: Sigh posted by BandonLooker on May 13, 2008 at 10:58:55:
As I See It
By Mary Schamehorn
It’s been just over six months since my fellow photographer pal Airlee Owens wrote these words to me in an e-mail: “I would like to know if there is any hope of having the lighthouse restored to what we have all come to love and photograph.”
My short answer is: No. At least not in the foreseeable future.
A group of us (Judy Knox and Kathy Dornath from the museum) met with state officials and Roger Straus, president of the Coquille River Lighthouse Keepers Foundation, to talk about the restoration of the lighthouse.
The meeting had probably gone on for about an hour as they described the new windows, doors, iron work, etc., that was proposed for the next two years before we finally got to what I aptly described as “the elephant in the room.” That, of course, is the color of the lighthouse.
Before I continue, I want to share Airlee’s Oct. 3 e-mail with you: “I do not like the new colors . . . What once was probably one of the most photographed lighthouses on the Oregon Coast now looks like an ostentatious display of poor judgment. What we do know is that for 100 years out of the last 110 years, the lighthouse has been white with a black roof, or something pretty close to that. Are we willing to erase 100 years of known history based on speculation of what the first 10 years might have been? I surely hope not.”
I knew we were in trouble when the state officials basically threw out the “Notice to Mariners” document, which clearly described the colors on the day the lighthouse was commissioned in February of 1896. It said “the tower and building are white, with a stone foundation.”
Judy had discovered that document after the lighthouse was painted early last Fall. At that time we had a meeting and went away encouraged that, based on this document, the lighthouse would be repainted this Spring.
Not so. They now say that since the stone was removed from the building, that document no longer proves what color it later became, since the stone is no longer there. They did say that it could have been painted one of four color schemes, which included grey, black, red or yellow ochre for the base.
I even suggested that people might be willing to pay to have the stone base replaced, but that apparently is not an option.
I now believe we will be stuck with this color, at least for the short term, unless we can think of another way to get the attention of the state.
Across-the-table negotiation doesn’t seem to be the answer.
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