April 4, 2025 Update
In January 2024 FOSILS Board of Directors formulated a 3-year Strategic Plan.
2024 was the year to raise funding to open our tower catwalk
On Jan 11, 2025 the Board of Directors met to review our progress and update FOSILS’ 3 year plan through to the year 2027. Our Parapet will be open this summer and 2025 will be the Year of the Dock.
2025- SEGUIN DOCK CAMPAIGN
THE YEAR OF THE DOCK
The next milestone in our Strategic Plan is a dock for the island. There are many visitors who like the Robert Louis Stevenson “Treasure Island” approach of landing on the beach and dragging their dinghy up and down to accommodate the tides. Those admirable “die-hards” who still want to continue to do so can still do that. But the need for a dock is two-fold, one for our other visitors and the other for FOSILS to safely land supplies and equipment on the island. For example, in the future we will need to land and install is EXTREMELY expensive, historically accurate windows in the keeper’s house. Offloading a window worth thousands of dollars from a boat into a dinghy, rowing it ashore, hauling it up over the rocks to the stairs, and carrying it up the trail to the house 24 times is playing the odds of something extremely expensive going wrong. We need a dock and a functioning tramway before windows, so windows are in the future. First, we need a dock and then a way to safely transport large expensive and bulky material up to the station. 2025 is the year of the dock, the next step in our strategic plan.
Our design is done:
FOSILS began the next step of detailed design, detailed cost estimating, and permitting. We are now looking for a volunteer program manager from our members to herd all the cats involved in design and construction. Contact our office if you are interested.
FUNDING
There is still something missing…. Ah yes, how to pay for this. The new dock and tramway restoration are the most aggressive (i.e., expensive) endeavors ever undertaken by FOSILS.
Through the generosity of an anonymous benefactor, we have received a challenge. Our benefactor has given us $100,000 towards the dock and will match the next $400,000. This means that if we can raise $400,000, our benefactor will match $400,000. This will bring our capital fund to an estimated $900,000. All remaining funds will go on to the next projects in our plan. These include restoring the boathouse (we have a lead on securing a vintage boat to display inside) and finding a mean of safely getting material up to the station. This may be the restoring the tramway to operational condition or possibly reblazing the oxcart trail for the use of an ATV.
OUR PROGRESS
We are off to a good start already. Below’s chart shows the estimate for the various stages of our project. We are in the process of applying for permits. As you can imagine, because of the storms of last winter, Augusta’s DEP is flooded with permit requests by Maine’s fishermen to rebuild their infrastructure. So, understandably, we must wait patiently.
Once permits are received, we will solicit bids from contractors. Some contractors may bid on the whole job while others may bid on specific tasks. The specific tasks will be site prep/cribbing, pier construction, ramp construction (onshore), dock floats construction (onshore), mooring and dock assembly, and building a haul-out system for the floats for storms and winter storage. While cribbing and pier construction must be done in sequence, the other steps may be done in parallel based on our funding. The specifics will all be determined by our volunteer project manager and we will keep you all up to date through this web page.
We are getting there! When initially faced with the cost of such a project, it seemed insurmountable. How could a tiny little island group raise this kind of money? With the help of our benefactor, every donation, large or small, will make a difference and be doubled through a match.
Please Click here to donate to our Anniversary Campaign
Tip Koehler
Capital Campaign Chair
Friends of Seguin Island Light Station
207-522-1690
roofclimber@hotmail.com (I know, an unusual address. Make a donation and I’ll tell you the story)
OUR MISSION
To distinguish Seguin Island Light Station as part of Maine’s maritime heritage through Education and Preservation
OUR VISION FOR THE FUTURE
Friends of Seguin Island Light Station is a successfully funded organization able to maintain this National Historic Landmark and provide safe access to all who visit the island
OUR GUIDING PRINCIPLES
Responsibility
Respect
Community
Honesty
PLEASE DONATE BY CLICKING ON THE SITE BELOW
