Support the Light Station
What it takes to keep a 1928 lighthouse standing six miles offshore.
About the nonprofit
Our organization is dedicated to the renovation, restoration, and maintenance of the Lansing Shoals Light Station and to educating and informing the public on the history of the Light Station.
In May 2014, the U.S. Coast Guard deemed the Lansing Shoals Light Station excess property and made it available under the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act. When no custodian was found through that process, the General Services Administration put it up for public auction in 2017.
What we bought was the building and nothing else. The Coast Guard kept the light, the fog horn, and the right to land here at any time to service them. The lake bottom belongs to the State of Michigan, which leases us the 9,503 square feet under the pier for 50 years with an option on 49 more. The rent is that we maintain the place.
Every repair that changes how the building looks or how it stands up has to be reviewed by the Michigan State Historic Preservation Officer first. Adding or removing material from the crib that the whole structure rests on requires a state permit. These are not obstacles we are complaining about. They are the terms we accepted, and they are why this work is slower and more expensive than fixing an ordinary building.
What a century of winters has done
The pier has held since 1927. Four concrete caissons, a cap slab 7.5 feet thick, walls three feet thick. When a 1,000-foot ore carrier hit it at full speed in 1993, the freighter needed $1.9 million in repairs and the lighthouse needed $100,000.
The building on top has not done as well. GSA's site visit in June 2017 observed the first floor unstable and unsafe in places, with an open section where the flooring is missing entirely. The structure contains asbestos and lead-based paint. Windows and doors were sealed with brick and mortar at automation in 1976 and the walls were sprayed with gunite, which slowed the decay but did not stop it.
Everything here has to arrive by boat, in weather, onto a pier with no dock. That is the single largest reason a repair that would be routine ashore is a project out here.
Get involved
Donate
Contributions fund structural assessment, stabilization work, and the historical research behind this site. Lansing Shoals Light Station, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) private foundation, EIN 82-3583458. Deduction limits for gifts to private foundations differ from those for public charities, so please check with your own tax advisor.
Become a member
Members receive updates on preservation progress, access to photos and reports from the site, and invitations to events. Membership details are still being finalized.
Volunteer
Most of what we need happens on shore: research, records, fundraising, and events. On-site work is limited, tightly controlled, and not open to general volunteers. The building contains asbestos and lead-based paint, the first floor has an open section where the flooring is gone, and the Coast Guard's fog horn sounds at 118 decibels without warning. Anyone who goes out needs training, equipment, and hearing protection.
Finding the light station
The Lansing Shoals Light Station is located in the open waters of northeastern Lake Michigan, approximately 6.3 miles (10.1 km) southeast of Point Patterson, in Newton Township, Mackinac County, Michigan.
There is no land access and no public access. The station can be reached only by boat, in exposed open water, and the building is not safe to enter. Please do not attempt to visit or land on the pier.
The nearest mainland points of access are the communities along Michigan's Upper Peninsula shoreline in the Straits of Mackinac area.
Contact us
Questions about donating, membership, volunteering, or the preservation work itself? Send us a note and we will get back to you.
Mailing address and additional contact information will be published here soon.