CASE STUDY
PARTNERSHIP SAVES HISTORIC LIGHTHOUSE
Many of GSA’s most noteworthy compliance successes result from partnerships that GSA initiates or substantively guides.The Gay Head Lighthouse in Martha’s Vineyard has special significance to the community and nation as the only lighthouse with a history of Native American lighthouse keepers. For decades, it was owned by the USCG and maintained by the Martha’s Vineyard Museum.The light within the tower continues to guide traders, fishermen, cruise ships, and recreational boaters today. When erosion of the Gay Head Cliffs threatened catastrophic loss of the lighthouse, GSA led negotiation among five consulting parties resulting in a Section 106 Memorandum of Agreement detailing all conveyance responsibilities in time to relocate the lighthouse 50 feet inland before the onset of the summer storm season.The town of Aquinnah, Massachusetts, agreed to complete photo documentation of the lighthouse and to place interpretive signage at the site of the lighthouse’s former foundation. Aquinnah and the Martha’s Vineyard Museum agreed to rehabilitate and maintain the lighthouse, operating it as a museum again. The move drew national attention and was featured in a NOVA episode (https://www.youtube. com/watch?v=wmQO3ahvCwI&t=1sand). CNN named Gay Head one of the five biggest preservation “wins” of 2015. GSA’s subsequent collaboration with the ACHP to document the undertaking in a “106 Success Story” (http://www.achp.gov/docs/gay-head-lighthouse.pdf) will benefit future conveyances requiring cooperation among several organizations to preserve historic property at risk.
Moving the Gay Head Lighthouse, Aquinnah, MA (top photo courtesy Derrill Bazzy; bottom photo courtesy Drew Kinsman)
IN A SPIRIT OF STEWARDSHIP: A REPORT ON FEDERAL HISTORIC PROPERTY MANAGEMENT 2018 | 39
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