Efforts to cleanup rubble from the midweek storm and stabilize what remains are adding a sense of urgency at Pemaquid Point Lighthouse and other hard-hit areas along the state’s coast
Steve Hendrix of the Bristol Parks & Recreation Department recovers items from the Bell House at Pemaquid Point Lighthouse Park. High waves and strong winds carried away two of the structure’s walls. In a stroke of luck, the fog bell, left, was recently removed from its perch on the structure because of wood rot, said Shelley Gallagher, director of Bristol’s Parks & Recreation Department. Otherwise, it would have been lost in the storm, she said. Derek Davis/Staff Photographer
By Kay Neufeld, Portland Press Herald
Shelley Gallagher was busy Thursday assessing the damage the midweek storm wreaked on the Pemaquid Point Lighthouse Park, one of Maine’s iconic landmarks.
But it’s been a challenge for the director of Bristol’s Parks & Recreation Department to fulfill that responsibility this week. Pemaquid Point was battered by high waves and 79 mph winds on Tuesday night and Wednesday, Gallagher said. The gusts and surges toppled an entire wall of the historic Bell House, scattering bricks and exposing its interior to the elements.
“We have security cameras, so first thing I did this morning is I looked to see to make sure the lighthouse was actually still standing,” she said.
The lighthouse tower is still in good shape. And, as luck would have it, the actual bell was not swept away because the town had moved it inside the house in August to address issues with its stand. Gallagher is confident that the Bell House can be restored to its former glory.
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But picking up the pieces and charting a plan will be all the more difficult with another storm en route for Friday night through Saturday, expected to once again flood the coast and bring in hurricane-force winds. And Gallagher is worried, knowing that this week of weather isn’t simply a fluke.
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