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Round Island Lighthouse Restoration Project

The above rendering gives the viewer an accurate picture of how the lighthouse will appear in its new location. Lighthouse is seen in the lower righthand corner of the rendering, adjacent to the bridge approach.  Click to view full size.

In late 2009, the city of Pascagoula, Mississippi  received permission from the Mississippi Department of Archives and History to move the base of Round Island Lighthouse from Round Island to the mainland where it will be restored in the city's downtown historic district. The 1859 lighthouse was toppled by Hurricane Georges in the late 199s and further damaged by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Pieces of the tower have been stored in a warehouse for most of the decade since the structure fell. Plans are to have the entire lighthouse rebuilt by the end of 2010 or early 2011. The city will use a $250,000 Community Heritage grant it received along with $340,000 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to help fund the project.

City of Pascagoula ready to move Round Island lightouse March 1, 2010 PASCAGOULA, MS (March 1, 2010) - It likely will be late April or May before a contractor pulls the base of the Round Island Lighthouse out of the Mississippi Sound and barges it up the Pascagoula River to its new location. The city has all the permits in place and funding secured to bring what's left of the lighthouse ashore and place it in the loop of right-of-way land just south of the high-rise bridge on U.S. 90 at Pascagoula Street. Jaci Turner, the city's project manager, said last week contractor Jason Borries soon will be given a green light to begin. The city is just making sure everything is in order, she said. A city team recently returned from Florida, where members visited the St. George Island Lighthouse. It had tumbled into the Gulf several years ago and was rebuilt in a new location on the island. In that project, the city enlisted volunteers to help clean the old lighthouse's bricks before they were reused, and it added a lighthouse keeper's home and visitor center. Turner said they wanted to study how that community dealt with its project before they make the final plans for the Round Island Lighthouse reconstruction. "We want to make sure we don't do something they wish they hadn't," she said. She believes Pascagoula will be ready for Borries to begin in three to four weeks. First, the contractor will dig under the base and will install a platform so the base can be lifted onto a barge in one piece. The lighthouse was toppled by Hurricane Georges, then Katrina uprooted the base. Turner said the island work will be slow and will take about a month to complete. When they're ready to barge the base upriver to its new site, Pascagoula will announce it so people can line the river and watch the historic move, Turner said. She said Borries doesn't plan to prepare the site at the lighthouse's new home until he has the base in the vicinity. She said he won't know what he's dealing with for site preparation until he gets a look at the bottom of the base. Turner said the city secured the original lighthouse plans from the National Archives. It was built in the mid-1800s. The city also salvaged as much as two-thirds of the original brick work, and the metal and glass from the lantern. It's all in storage. She said once the base is in place and people can see that the move from island to mainland is really happening, serious fundraising will begin, to pay for fully restoring the structure. Turner said plans still need to be finalized, an assessment of volunteer labor made and grants secured before they can determine how much money they'll need to raise for the complete restoration. A state Department of Archives & History grant will pay for moving the base.

This site provides some information on the history, the memories and the charms of the Round Island Lighthouse.  Hopefully you'll be inspired to lend a hand.  If you are interested in seeing what you could do to make a difference, take a peek at the You CAN Help page for products and membership information.  Even if you're not inspired yet, browse through the site and let us know what you think.

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