After extensive restoration work, the Tawas Point Lighthouse in East Tawas, Michigan, has reopened.
The lighthouse’s grand reopening was held on May 2 — a fitting date that marks 147 years since a light first shone from the tower’s lantern room onto Tawas Bay and Lake Huron.
The restoration work, which started in February 2023, was made possible through $455,500 in federal COVID-19 relief funding from the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.
Mihm Enterprise conducted the restoration, fixing the exterior deterioration of the tower as well as the lantern room and gallery.
The team corrected ventilation and moisture issue to prevent future deterioration. The new exterior paint reflects what the lighthouse would have looked like in 1895.
“After many years, we are so excited to see the tower of Tawas Point Lighthouse return to the gleaming white beacon it was meant to be,” says Laurie Perkins, a Michigan History Center site historian for Tawas Point Lighthouse.
“The crowning glory of the restoration project is the lantern room where the 1891 fourth order Frensel Lens still resides. As work progressed on the tower, an exciting color palette dating to the turn of the 20th century reappeared, adding even more to the historical authenticity of the lighthouse.”
Visit Michigan.gov/TawasLighthouse and tawaslighthousefriends.com.
Mihm Enterprise
