Hereford Inlet Lighthouse

Ready to shine
By TRUDI GILFILLIAN Staff Writer, (609) 463-6716
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Thursday, March 23, 2006
Updated: Thursday, March 23, 2006

NORTH WILDWOOD — A cool wind was blowing outside the Hereford Inlet Lighthouse on Wednesday as public works crews went about their business tidying the landmark's popular Victorian gardens.

“It's the ‘clean up the pine cone' stage,” joked lighthouse manager Betty Mugnier.

Inside, the lighthouse gift shop was having a sale, as much as 50 percent off to make way for this summer's inventory of lighthouse souvenirs.

At this time of year, the lighthouse sees a trickle of visitors come through its doors, but now is the time the staff begin to prepare for the summer tourist season and the excitement that follows.

Mugnier has worked here since 1998 and the building's popularity has “grown by leaps and bounds,” she said.

An estimated 30,000 people visit the lighthouse each year.

So work begins for the new crop of visitors. Mugnier has ordered new items for the shop — the lighthouse's biggest moneymaker — and she is ready to get her staff back to work leading tours up and around the circa 1874 lighthouse.

Lighthouse commission chairman Paul DiFilippo said he hopes this also may be the last summer that visitors walk through feeling the heat.

The lighthouse, which sits on the inlet on Central Avenue, has undergone several rounds of restoration as architect Hugh McCauley works to return the beacon to its historically accurate former self.

Now, DiFilippo is waiting for phase four to begin. That project, funded by $356,000 in federal and state grants, will include restoration of much of the interior and some behind the scenes work to strengthen the top staircase and upgrade fire safety.

It will also include the addition of a missing veranda and staircase that once graced the exterior.

Mugnier recalled a visit by a local man who asked if she would like to see some pictures of the lighthouse's early days. One showed two men holding a fish, but the fish wasn't the most interesting part of the picture.

It showed the missing veranda, Mugnier said.

The change visitors may notice most, however, will be the addition of air conditioning, which will help preserve the artifacts now housed here.

If all goes as planned, work on phase four could begin this fall.

This year, several events are planned to add to the lighthouse's notoriety and to help with its fundraising. They include the installation of a bronze plaque in June by the Colonial Dames of the 17th Century noting the building's significance and an invitation-only dinner in May at the Abbey Holmes Estate in Clermont.

He said the Friends of the Lighthouse, a non-profit group with about 700 members, will also be expanding its efforts to preserve the lighthouse.

DiFilippo, a real estate broker, said the community must continue to support the lighthouse and strike a balance between development and its history.

“We don't have much history about when this island began. This is a national treasure,” he said.

DiFilippo is also busy trying to get the nearby State Police building turned over for use as a museum to compliment the lighthouse and he is working with the city to preserve open space that might otherwise be developed around the lighthouse.

He is still amazed at how much he continues to learn about the lighthouse.

“It's an ongoing thing. Someone will remember something and bring us pictures of stories about the lighthouse,” he said.

And he expects great things in the coming season.

“I think it's going to be a good year,” DiFilippo said.

To e-mail Trudi Gilfillian at The Press: TGilfillian@pressofac.com