Sen. Tom Carper (D-Delaware) is touting federal funding set to help the Harbor of Refuge Lighthouse.
A quarter million dollars from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will start the process of protecting the lighthouse.
The breakwater supporting the Harbor of Refuge Lighthouse is beginning to fail, threatening the stability of the entire structure.
Red Moulinier, past president of the Delaware River & Bay Lighthouse Foundation, says the lighthouse is worth protecting for many reasons.
“That lighthouse serves a purpose for commercial shipping and also recreational botors, they depend on it in a huge way, so I believe just from that viewpoint the lighthouse is invaluable,” said Moulinier. “But also, it is a historic structure.”
John Kane, Senior Policy Advisor at the United States Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. agrees, explaining why investing to maintain the lighthouse is critical.
“This is critical infrastructure to the economy in Delaware because we need to protect those commercial shippers and those recreational boaters. But we also need to protect our historic infrastructure across this country, and that includes these lighthouses,” Kane said. “So we’re going to start by getting this breakwater studied so we know what needs to be done to make it more stable. And we’re going to move on to see what that construction need actually is.”
The $250,000 from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will pay for the initial feasibility study to determine the scope of work that needs to be done.
The Army Corps of Engineers will then take that information and make the necessary repairs.
