Hawaii’s Kauhola Point Lighthouse on Big Island will be demolished by year’s end.
The Coast Guard made the decision to tear the lighthouse down back in 2007 and had received approval from the Hawaii state preservation officials.
The Kauhola Lighthouse was built in 1933 to replace earlier towers that had stood at the site as far back as 1897.
Officials stated that the soil at
the base of the lighthouse was too unstable, even two years ago, for
the structure to be moved and
saved, something we wrote about in the November 2007 edition of Lighthouse Digest in a story by Bob and Sandra Shanklin, “The Lighthouse People.” That story was titled, “End Is Near As Collapse Imminent For Kauhola Point Lighthouse.”
The lighthouse, at press time, was only 20 feet from the edge of the cliff. Rather than let it topple over the edge, a private contractor will be hired to demolish the structure. A new, modern structure has already been built at the site to replace the Kauhola Point Lighthouse.
The Hawaii State Preservation Office has determined that two similar lighthouses, those at Barbers Point and Nawiliwili Harbor will be saved as examples of the lighthouse structure style that once stood at Kauhola Point. And, another part of lighthouse history will be gone forever.
This story appeared in the
December 2009 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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