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The Florida Keys Reef Lights Foundation has made a bold move by voting to apply for the ownership of five of Florida’s reef lighthouses. The five spindly-legged lighthouses, which are all located miles from shore, are the Carysfort Reef Lighthouse, the Sand Key Lighthouse, the Alligator Reef Lighthouse, the Sombrero Reef Lighthouse, and the American Shoal Lighthouse.
However, as has happened in the past ar other locations, applying for ownership of a lighthouse does not necessarily assure that the General Services Administration (GSA) will approve the application. Even in cases where there were no other applicants, GSA has been known to reject the application from a nonprofit and then offer the lighthouse for sale through an auction. Also, when the structures are actually excessed and offered up for adoption under the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act, the group may have to compete with another government entity that may want ownership of all or some of the lighthouses. Also, the Florida Keys Reef Lights Foundation will need to be able to prove to the government that they have the capability of maintaining the structures. The group has already started fund-raising activities to support their quest. Eventually, they would like to have modern day keepers or caretakers once again living at the lighthouses.
This story appeared in the
Jul/Aug 2013 edition of Lighthouse Digest Magazine. The print edition contains more stories than our internet edition, and each story generally contains more photographs - often many more - in the print edition. For subscription information about the print edition, click here.
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