Since 1827, Tibbetts Point Lighthouse has been a beacon for travelers.

Guiding mariners safely through the juncture of Lake Ontario and St.
Lawrence River was its first mission. Today, this famous lighthouse
guides tourists to seek adventure in the Thousand Islands and all along
the St. Lawrence Seaway Trail.
Though located in Cape Vincent, the lighthouse benefits our whole
region and is a significant national and international tourist attraction.
It is often described as if the lighthouse was the only building located
on the former National Parks site, but there is actually a group of
buildings. A keepers house, an assistant keepers house, a
bunkhouse, a fog signal building, oil house, and a garage occupy the
property. Tibbetts Point Lighthouse Society operates a gift shop on the
premises and uses proceeds for repairs and maintenance for it, the
lighthouse and the fog signal building. Hostelling International assists
with expenses associated with their summer lease of portions of the
property. That still leaves a huge portion of the site for the town to
oversee.
When the Town of Cape Vincent acquired the property from the Federal
Government, one of the deed agreements required the town to submit
all proposals for work on any part of the property to the New York State
Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation Organization. The
acquisition is in the State and National Registers of Historic Places.
Bottom line is that all work must conform to the National Historic
Preservation Act of 1966 and cannot be done without prior approval.
For instance, if the siding needs to be replaced, one cant just go out
and get some vinyl siding and hammer it up. Aluminum siding is also
out. Things get even more complicated. This is a reality of keeping
historic properties in good repair. The objective is for all visitors to have
the same visual experience when encountering these artifacts of our
nations nautical history.
There are three ways to pay for upkeep required in the deed
agreements; securing grants, receiving designated gifts, and raising
taxes. Town Supervisor, Debra Suller took office in January 2016 and
applied for a $303,000 grant to help pay for specific repairs. A
decision on whether part or all of the grant will be awarded to the town
will not be made until December. Cape Vincent Lions Club is holding a
breakfast fundraiser on November 27th, with proceeds being
designated for repairs to the lighthouse complex. Raising taxes could
apply to only Town of Cape Vincent taxpayers, but a project this
important to the region needs broader financial support than just one
town or village. It is important to recognize the complex as a shared
regional asset and a shared regional economic benefit. Hopefully other
regional groups will follow the Lions Clubs lead by holding fundraisers

and designating funds for maintenance and repairs to the buildings on

the property.
We need to fix what needs fixing now. Needed repairs have been
identified and listed. Priority will be given to those items that protect
structures from further degradation by weather. Siding is peeling off,
causing weather damage to the surfaces underneath. Shingles are
blowing off. Forty windows must be replaced. Holes in exterior
surfaces allow precipitation in. Painted surfaces are seriously peeling.
Soffits are degraded. The list goes on. Minimum estimates, not
including lumber to replace framing, or scraping or painting, are
$104,400 for assistant lighthouse keepers house, $139,400 for
lighthouse keepers house, $17,000 for bunkhouse, and $35,500 for
garage.
Our options to fund repairs are: being awarded grants, receiving
designated monetary gifts and raising taxes. That sounds like three
choices. Heres an analogy.
A man prepares to pay for the scrumptious meal he has just eaten in
an historic restaurant. He checks each pocket in his vest, his trousers
and his coat for the necessary money. He achieves his objective with
money he discovered in three of his pockets. Did he have three
different funding sources? No. He, the person, was the source of the
money in all three of his pockets.
Ultimately, the source of funding for upkeep required by the Tibbetts
Point property deed agreements is We, the people. Grant monies are
our money collected in many ways and redistributed back to us.
Donations from fundraisers are our money collected in many ways and
redistributed back to us. Taxes areyou get the idea. We are the
people. Be ready. If the grant is not awarded, be ready with ideas to
hold designated fundraisers across the region. If the first two sources
dont bring the desired results, be ready for a town budget line item,
financed with taxes. Our task is calling. We can do this together.