Chilkat Valley News - Serving Haines and Klukwan, Alaska since 1966

The Eldred Rock Lighthouse  - a ghostly white structure on a tiny wind-beaten outcrop in the middle of the Lynn Canal - for the last 50 years has stood empty.

This month that changed.

A group of volunteers marked a milestone as they slept for six nights in the lighthouse's recently restored keepers' quarters, a handful of rooms contaminated with lead and asbestos that weren't maintained after the site was decommissioned by the U.S. Coast Guard in 1973.

Donning respirators and hazmat suits or wielding chainsaws and paintbrushes, more than a dozen volunteers and workers specializing in lead and asbestos remediation have made significant headway in the decades-long effort to restore the National Historic Site located 17 miles south of Haines and 55 miles north of Juneau.

"The work that has begun is monumental because without these communities coming together, this structure that's been standing there alone for 50 years with no maintenance would've deteriorated," said Sue York, executive director of Eldred Rock Lighthouse Preservation Association (ERLPA), the nonprofit leading the restoration project.

Built in 1905, the white concrete structure on a two-acre island in the Lynn Canal is Alaska's oldest still-standing lighthouse and the only remaining octagonal one.

After 20 years of logistical hoop-jumping, a committed group of Haines, Skagway and Juneau residents began repairing the lighthouse last summer and now have restored much of the site.

ERLPA has progressed about 80% toward their goal of getting it in shape to host visitors and offer tours in 2023, according to York.

The volunteers that stayed on the island July 15-21 were the first work crew to sleep in the building in five decades, although a family of otters occupied the building's attic several winters ago.

"We've cleaned all this hallway," York said as she ushered two reporters through the lighthouse's first-floor entryway July 21. "When I say 'cleaned,' I mean encapsulated. There may be lead underneath this paint but...chemically the lead can't get out."

Just last year, those who entered the building needed a hazmat suit, gloves and respirator. "When I first came here in 2018, I was crunching around in lead chips - it was just everywhere," York said.

Now volunteers need only to put on clean house shoes before entering. "Everywhere you look has been cleaned with lead-encapsulating paint," York said, walking around the second-floor bedrooms and dining room.

There are still a handful of contaminated areas in the building, like the engine and boiler rooms and the second-floor kitchen and bathroom, sealed behind plastic wrap with warnings about the risks of cancer-causing asbestos or lead poisoning.

But the progress of repair is unmistakable, considering every inch of any given room in the 56-foot, two-story building needs to be decontaminated before someone can safely enter without protective gear.

"It's surreal that we have this clean space we can live in," said Keith McPencow of Juneau-based Mercury Contracting. "I was out here for 31 days in a row last year living in a tent."

Remediation started last summer, when McPencow spent five weeks camped alone on the island sealing asbestos-laden floors and lead-painted walls.

Beyond remediation of hazardous materials, several areas of the building are in need of attention. Concrete walls are spalling; the red pyramidal roof needs to be replaced; the island's two boat tramways need to be restored; and historic wood in the cupola needs to be rebuilt. But overall the building's structure is sound, York said, and plans are underway to accomplish all aspects of restoration.

"Right now our goal is to make it livable and used so the Coast Guard eventually will relinquish it from their property list and allow us to own it. Then we can share it with Southeast and start giving tours," York said.

ERLPA grew out of efforts by the Sheldon Museum in the late 1990s to gain access and restore the federally owned lighthouse.

Federal legislation was passed in 2000 that allowed the government to transfer lighthouses to nonprofits free of cost, but conveyance issues and hazardous environmental conditions derailed the process for Eldred Rock, according to a 2020 CVN report.

In April 2020, ERLPA reached a five-year lease agreement with the Coast Guard, renewable for up to four terms, giving the organization access to the site so volunteers could begin rehabilitation.

Eldred Rock Lighthouse is unique in several ways. Unlike most other northern lighthouses, it combines the lantern room with the keepers' quarters, is built of concrete and is octagonal, according to a Lighthouse Friends description.

"It's the most unique and most impressive looking lighthouse we have in Alaska. I've seen every lighthouse in Alaska, and this is the best," said Ed Page, director of nonprofit Marine Exchange of Alaska and 30-year Coast Guard service member.

Marine Exchange, which is working with ERLPA on the restoration project, uses weather data and vessel tracking information to communicate with boats and keep them safe. One of the organization's many data collection instruments around the state is on Eldred Rock.

Page said he envisioned one day rigging the lighthouse with Christmas lights that would automatically turn on during the holidays every time a boat passed.

The lighthouse this spring made Preservation Alaska's "most endangered historic properties" list for the fourth straight year.

ERLPA has been awarded two Preservation Alaska grants - $2,500 in 2019 for a historic structure report and $2,500 this year for cleanup of the kitchen and bathroom in the keepers' quarters. The association also received $1,750 from the Chilkat Valley Community Foundation this year to help fund lantern room repairs.

York said what the group most needs, though, is transportation from Haines. "We keep hitting brick walls. We can't hire anyone to take us out from Haines," she said.

ERLPA is planning another work session on the island in August. York said those interested in volunteering should stop by the organization's booth at the Southeast Alaska State Fair this weekend or visit eldredrocklighthouse.org.