The age of 99 is apparently not too old for a face-lift. Built in 1915 and commissioned in 1916 as a floating lighthouse with the U.S. Lighthouse Service, Lightship No. 101, now a city museum known as Lightship Portsmouth, is having some cosmetic work done. Were doing limited restoration to get the ship to looking as it did in its heyday, said Corey Thornton, Portsmouth Museums curator of history. Were trying to get it back to its original appearance. In August, a remediation team removed peeling lead paint from the lightships deckhouse or superstructure which consists of the pilot or wheel house, radio room and mast room. The rooms were then painted with a special marine primer and are ready for a coat of paint in what is believed to be their original color - a light mint green. Thornton has researched the ships color palette and discovered rooms were painted in different colors based on their functions. Recreational areas, for example, had a light yellow hue. Thornton said volunteers, many from the Coast Guard, will likely perform the final step of painting the deckhouse. In the past, service members from the Coast Guard Cutter Legare helped polish the ships bell and other brass fixtures, and painted the exterior hull as well as some interior spaces. Volunteers are crucial in museum work, Thornton said. And Coast Guard volunteers seem fitting for this task. The lightship became part of the Coast Guard in 1939 and remained active until 1960. It opened as a museum in 1967 and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1989. In addition to the paint work, the project included restoration of four rusty hatch doors - three of which were previously not functional. The doors lead from the mast room to the ships exterior deck. The restoration was performed in parts of the ship that are not generally open to the public during tours, but Thornton said the work was necessary to fulfill the mission of preserving the lightship for future generations. The ship is in excellent structural condition, he said, so most of the restoration work is primarily aesthetic. The cost for the recent project was $26,250 and was jointly funded by the citys departments of Museums and General Services, according to Thornton. Future restoration work will involve painting the ships mid-deck. Thornton also would like to see the interior appearance restored so it looks like a functioning lightship circa 1950. The medicine chest, for example, is now an exhibit case. Thornton wants it restored to look like a medicine chest. Further down the line is a long-held hope of restoring the mizzenmast which came down during Hurricane Isabel in 2003, Thornton said. But he wont be around to oversee those projects. Thornton, a Norfolk resident, is going to be the new curator at The MacArthur Memorial. His last day with Portsmouth Museums is Oct. 31. Thornton previously interned at the Memorial and said he is excited to go back. Portsmouth Museums director Nancy Perry said he is leaving behind a meaningful legacy after 12 years. Weve been fortunate to have Corey here, she said. He has really moved the interpretation of the lightship and programming at the Naval museum. Hes conducted a lot of research and developed a lot of collaborative efforts with other individuals and organizations that have become important to the history division. Lia Russell, 222-5562, lia.russell@pilotonline
Posted on: Sat, 25 Oct 2014 16:28:59 +0000
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