New London Ledge Light Foundation and the Maritime Society Join Forces
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In 1988 the Ledge Light Foundation assumed stewardship of the building in a special lease arrangement with the Coast Guard and began bringing the lighthouse back to life. The Foundation maintains a website which includes photographs of volunteers at work on the building as well as tour visitors examining the interpretive exhibition.
A sample of photos from the website follows:
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A gala fundraiser was held in 2009 at Ocean Beach, celebrating Ledge Light's centennial.
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A centennial proclamation by the Town of Groton outlined the history and importance of the lighthouse:
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In 2013 the federal government again offered historic lighthouses to qualified organizations for preservation.
Although Ledge Light Foundation had been restoring Ledge Light since 1988, it did not have the required legal status to apply for ownership. Such status had been established by the Maritime Society thirty years before when it was awarded ownership of the the U.S. Custom House in 1983. Given their shared interests, the two organizations agreed to prepare an application together, reinforcing each other to make the case for ownership which would lie with the Maritime Society.
The application was approved by the National Park Service and ownership was transferred to the Maritime Society in 2014. A "Sentinels on the Sound" program was announced with this poster featuring a photograph by Todd Gipstein, then president of the Ledge Light Foundation. Todd and his wife Marcia were for many years the leading players in the Foundation's efforts to restore Ledge Light and turn it into a cultural and educational destination.
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An Unexpected Windfall
In 2021 Ledge Light Foundation received $100,000 from the Connecticut Port Authority, one of several "mitigations" requested by the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) to compensate for the loss of the Central Vermont Pier to the Authority's new wind turbine facility. Like Ledge Light, CV Pier is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The new funding was brokered by the SHPO and New London Landmarks, Inc. The Day reported that it would be used to repair the boarding platform, replace glass in the lantern, and repoint brickwork and masonry.
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This rare photograph was taken in 1945 before the brickwork was painted in the familiar red color.
Below the photograph is a rendering (in red) for a calendar by Maine graphic artist Alan Claude. The original poster version - one in a series of New England lighthouses - may be seen on the Alan Claude Gallery website.
