AL: Lighthouse Could Be Moved
Posted by lobotero on 8 July 2008
A proposal to move the Middle Bay Lighthouse about 15 miles to Battleship Memorial Park, restore it and put it on permanent display could cost about $1 million.
The Alabama Lighthouse Association has proposed to move the 123-year-old, storm-lashed lighthouse, according to Hal Pierce, one of the association’s founding members.
The lighthouse was built in 1885 and sits in the Mobile Ship Channel. Shaped like a hexagon and placed on steel screw pilings, it was patterned after several lighthouses on Chesapeake Bay, according to lighthouse association literature.
The largest expense would involve restoration of the lighthouse and site preparation. Pierce doesn’t yet have a timeline for completing the project but hopes to have the structure moved to Battleship Park by the end of the year.
If moved, the wooden lighthouse could be better maintained and could be seen by hundreds of thousands of visitors to the park, Pierce said.
