SOUTHPORT — A group overseeing restoration of the Cuckolds Fog Signal and Light Station say a boathouse and tower on the island will be refurbished as marine education space and a museum, respectively. The public service nature of those improvements would fulfill part of the plans for the island, but opposition to other development there has grown.
Janet Reingold, founder and vice president of the non-profit Cuckolds Council, which owns and manages the island, said plans to include public spaces are still in progress.
“It was intended to be educational and that is still in the works,” she said. “All of those things are still going to happen.”
Reingold said the boathouse is currently a construction site. Also, any new work must be approved by a myriad of federal, regional and local agencies, she said.
“Twenty agencies all have a say in what we do,” she said.
The Cuckolds consist of two rocky islets rising about 15 feet above high water in the westerly edge of the channel at the entrance to Boothbay.
The fog signal station and keeper’s house were established in 1892 to protect mariners navigating through reefs on the southern side and shoals extending half a mile west of the western rock.
Under its new ownership, the keeper’s house has been renovated into an upscale bed and breakfast with two bedroom suites and kitchen and parlor. The Inn at Cuckolds Lighthouse opened this summer and was named the Best Lighthouse Lodging by Down East magazine in its annual poll of readers.
Reingold said the inn was booked for most of the season that is now concluding and next year will be open from Memorial Day through the first half of October. However, not everyone’s measure of success is the same.
Members of the original volunteer group overseeing restoration of the lighthouse complained the project had lost its populace flavor and became a pricey retreat for the wealthy. The inn charges guests $350 per night Sunday through Thursday and $500 per night Friday and Saturday. Both suites are available for $1,250 to $1,500 per night with exclusive use of the parlor and country kitchen.
Reingold said the purpose of the inn is to make the property self-sustaining while providing public access. One concern is guests’ privacy. Another is the rugged shoreline.
Guests are taken to the inn onboard a 26-foot navy whaleboat. The ride takes 20 minutes.
“We will be hosting historic tours by appointment and private launch,” she said.
The effort to restore the fog signal station and lighthouse began in 2004 when it was decommissioned by the Coast Guard and made available to interested parties. Construction started July 7, 2010.
Among the issues the council has dealt with is wastewater treatment. The inn in late July received state and local approval for a BUSSE sewage treatment system. The new green technology uses membrane bioreactor technology, which restores wastewater to a condition where it can be used to water the lawn.
Danielle Betts, design manager of Knickerbocker Group Design, which is overseeing the renovation, said the modular units will be hidden under a concrete terrace at the inn.
“The new septic system will be installed this fall and operational for the 2015 season,” she said. The inn is operating under a temporary occupancy permit until the system is installed.
Power is being produced with a generator and wastewater is being temporarily stored in a holding tank. A reverse osmosis system is changing sea water into drinking water.
Betts said the Cuckolds Council is seeking permits to obtain water and electric service from Southport via underground pipes and cables. The island is located one-third of a mile off Southport Island.
Betts said the utility lines could be installed in a 24-hour period and would be constructed so that they would not be visible. In the intertidal zone the electric and water lines will be encased in three-inch steel pipes.