WELCOME TO THE NATIONAL LIGHTHOUSE MUSEUM
Dear National Lighthouse Museum Friend,
On behalf of the National Lighthouse Museum, we are requesting your support in opening its initial Educational Resource Center this year. It is our anticipation that you would consider a “Naming Opportunity” gift. Our mission: the sustainability of a historical site for education, preservation and dissemination on the history of lighthouses.
A coalition of leading lighthouse preservationists and membership organizations from Maine to California selected the original US Lighthouse Service General Depot on Staten Island NY in 1997 as the location for the National Lighthouse Museum (NLM). The National Lighthouse Museum will serve as an educational umbrella over 600 lighthouses in America, gracing the water landscape of the shorelines and busy water currents of oceans, lakes and inlets.
Founded in 1864, the site was the original home of the United States Lighthouse Service, a federal agency absorbed by the United States Coast Guard in 1939. The General Depot served as the administrative headquarters for the service as well as a worldwide experimental station where lamp oils, wicks and methods were tested, Fresnel lenses were imported from France and re-assembled on site, architects were busy designing lighthouses and lighthouses and their keepers were provided with operational supplies. What was once the national center of operations for the US Lighthouse Service, the National Lighthouse Museum and its beautiful location overlooking New York Harbor will become a destination for the world’s lighthouse enthusiasts and preservationists; an exciting attraction for the millions of visitors who yearly take the Staten Island Ferry and a lasting treasure for memorializing lighthouse heritage.
When the museum opens it will have exhibits and interactive displays for children and adults featuring lighthouses from around the nation, classical Fresnel lenses, lamps, navigational technologies and personal history of the Keepers’ and their families. We are hoping you would seriously consider playing a major role in opening this museum by having your name or that of your company associated with a select display of your choice.
Our intent is to make this museum a first class National Lighthouse Museum and it is your generous support that will help make this happen. We need your help NOW! Your financial support to fund the exhibits/ displays is crucial to the Museum opening as soon as possible. Please consider leaving a permanent legacy with the museum for future generations to remember, which acknowledges your foresight in helping “light the way” toward preserving this national treasure.
We welcome the opportunity for you to tour the NLM site to gain a better understanding on the impact the opening of this Museum will have upon lighthouse preservation and the maritime heritage of the site. An escrow account has been set up to retain the funds for the design, fabrication and construction of the museum’s content, created by Lee H. Skolnick Architecture + Design Partnership. The completion of this work will take approximately nine months and will commence as the funding come in for the various displays.
Please contact us at (855) NLM-SINY or LDianto@lighthousemuseum.org to talk further about how your support can help make a difference in making this museum a reality.
Sincerely,
Linda C. Dianto, MS Executive Director
John (Jack) Vokral, PE President
MISSION:
The National Lighthouse Museum Board of Trustees, Board of Advisors and FRIENDS will advocate, help preserve, and raise funds for establishing a National Lighthouse Museum at the old US Lighthouse “SUPER” Depot site on Staten Island, opening Building #11 in 2013 and continuing the fund raising efforts toward the expansion of the National Lighthouse Museum into Building #10 within 5 years, partnering with government agencies, non-profits, corporations, foundations and other organizations to promote and support historical, educational, cultural, recreational and other related activities at the site, while enhancing the historical significance and maritime heritage of lighthouses throughout our nation.
VISION:
Opening the National Lighthouse Museum in Bldg. #11 by 2012, then focus upon fund raising to open the expanded National Lighthouse Museum, Bldg. # 10 within 3 years, in addition to supporting other maritime heritage site uses, benefiting the local community and the nation.
Please view our coverage on NY1.
