By Emma Bouthillette 

Staff Writer

Goat Island Light has been guiding mariners into the sheltered harbor of Cape Porpoise for nearly two centuries. More recently, the island and the lighthouse have become property protected by the Kennebunkport Conservation Trust and one of the trust’s newest projects. 

When the organization took over the property and enrolled it in the Maine Lights Program, it wanted to restore it to a period when it looked the best, said Tom Bradbury, Kennebunkport Conservation Trust executive director. The group chose 1950 because the building was at its prime and electricity had been installed to automate the beacon in the lighthouse. 

“We’re trying to work toward making the buildings and island as historic as we can,” Bradbury said. 

 That will cost an estimated $800,000 ,he said. Restoration last year included $75,000 spent installing a septic system, in-ground reservoir, a well, replacing all  old windows and repairs to the boat ramp and float system. Bradbury said goals for this summer include work inside the lighthouse as well as restoring accessory buildings that were on the island more than 50 years ago.  

With volunteer work and reduced services,  costs have been kept minimal, he said. 

“There are specific tasks we couldn’t do ourselves,” Bradbury said. Last summer, for example, a barge was needed to bring tractors to the island and other specialized work was done on the buildings.

 The trust is grateful for those who have participated in the project thus far, Bradbury said, but added trustees always hope to raise more money to support the project as well as maintaining other protected lands. 

“This is one of several things we’re working on at the same time. It is one component of a larger picture,” Bradbury said.

To help put the project into perspective, local architect Harvey Wells created a scaled model of how the island looked during the 1950s. Wells said he worked from old photographs and documents on the buildings to create drawings, then translated the drawings into three-dimensional models. 

“As the bits and parts came together, it took about five to six months working on the weekends,” Wells said. The model will be used to show the trust’s visual goals during fundraisers.

 “Over the years, buildings have been removed and those things they want to restore or replace,” Wells said.  Using the model as a reference point, people can see what has changed on the island in the past 50 years too, Bradbury said. 

“The 1978 storm washed out the walkway. The bell tower was taken down earlier. Old pictures of the lighthouse are common, but the model is very visual to show what we’re trying to create,” Bradbury said.

The model will be displayed 5 to 7 p.m. Saturday at Atlantic Hall in Cape Porpoise for the baked bean supper to support the Goat Island restoration project.

Staff writer Emma Bouthillette can be reached at 282-4337 ext. 237.