All images © Frank Longo 2018
Our company was approached by The National Parks Service with the request to repair and restore some stair components located inside of Fire Island's 160 year old historic lighthouse. This work was part of a larger project to complete historic preservation and annual maintenance of the lighthouse which began in 2017.
During our initial assessment of the upper staircase, we found a number of deteriorated stanchion brackets. These brackets are mounted to each stair tread. A thick rope is passed through each component. This rope is meant for climbers to hold on to when using the narrow circular staircase.
Brackets that supported the bottom of the upper ladder were also quite deteriorated and would need to be replaced.
Here is an image of the top section of the Lighthouse's stairs before the replacement of the stanchion brackets.
Installation of the rebuilt components proved to be an effortful task given the site's narrow quarters.
Our crew had to carefully plan and prepare themselves for the installation of the restored components. Every detail had to be considered in order to avoid any unwanted trips up and down the steep, 192 step staircase.
Here is another perspective of the narrow staircase.
Although the original bottom stair support brackets were made of iron, we decided to replace them with stainless steel in order to prevent rust and further deterioration. The supports were then welded to the existing ladder onsite.
The original parts were saved and given back to the Fire Island Lighthouse Preservation Society to ensure provenance.
