A new light for the South Manitou Island Lighthouse

You can click the pics above for a slideshow of photos of the new third order Fresnel lens being built for the South Manitou Island Lighthouse Project by Artworks Florida.

The Relight the Light project seeks to fabricate and install replica third order Fresnel Lens in the lantern room of the South Manitou Island Lighthouse and Illuminate the lens using a solar powered L.E.D. light. You can learn much more about the project and donate online at www.leelanau.com/lighthouse. They still have a lot of money to raise, so please donate if you can!

Artworks Florida is dedicated to the history and preservation of historic Fresnel lenses used to illuminate lighthouses. The first restoration was completed in 1993 in St. Augustine, Florida, where glass prisms were machined and polished to Fresnel’s original formulas developed in 1819.

They have some really cool information about the process right here and be sure that Leelanau.com will bring you more about this story as we have it!