Charlotte-Genesee and Lorain Lighthouses Compete for Same Fresnel Lens
December 25, 07 by TheFleetIf you're new here, you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
By MICHELLE YORK | Source: The New York Times
ROCHESTER — In the evening, the Rev. Thomas H. Wheeland likes to retreat to the back porch of his rectory at Holy Cross Church and look out onto Lake Ontario, illuminated by a wide beam of light from a neighboring lighthouse.
The Charlotte-Genesee lighthouse, on Lake Ontario, is now a museum.
Years have passed since the stone lighthouse, built in 1822, was needed to guide ships into port. Today it is a museum, a beacon to the city’s once-bustling past.
The Fresnel lens in use here takes the light cast by an ordinary bulb and focuses it into a beam visible for up to 15 miles. The city of Lorain, Ohio, nearly 300 miles away, and on Lake Erie, says it is the rightful owner of the lens and has begun a campaign to have it returned.
The problem is that Charlotte’s current Fresnel lens is the one from the Lorain lighthouse, which had become a target for vandals and was on the brink of demolition.
John Cole, editor of the Lorain paper, The Morning Journal, called Charlotte’s current use of the lens “absurd” in print.
“My sense is that the lens belongs in the lighthouse for which it was made,” Mr. Cole said in a subsequent interview. “And I’m going to see what I can do to get it back here.”
