After approximately twenty-two months, during which no work was done to restore the Avery Point Lighthouse (on the University of Connecticut campus in Groton, CT), there is now activity at the lighthouse tower.  In the last three days crew members of the Joseph Gnazzo Company, Inc. out of Vernon, CT, have set up an elevator lift, performed a test of the mortar mix, removed all of marble balusters and pre-cast concrete balustrade in preparation to rebuild and restore the lighthouse.

 

Allen Todd (left) with a jack-hammer and Brian Villa with shovel, both employees of Joseph Gnazzo Company, Inc., work to remove concrete and roots atop the Avery Point lighthouse in Groton, CT. 

The plywood enclosure and roof that cap the location of where the old lantern room used to sit atop the Avery Point lighthouse while Brian Villa (foreground) and Allen Todd work to remove the concrete and roots where the balustrade and balusters were located.  Next they will remove the temporary enclosure and remove the concrete block, the base of the old lantern room. 

A view from the top of the Avery Point lighthouse tower shows the recently installed Dedication Walkway (approximately 810 feet) from the gray-brick circle, in the lower right to out-of site, past an outcropping of boulders in the distance.  The New London Harbor lighthouse may be seen across the Thames River in the upper left of the image.  Eventually, the remaining 70 feet of dedication brick walkway will be installed from the gray-brick circle to the base of the lighthouse tower.