DUNKIRK, N.Y. (WKBW) — Chautauqua County leaders are facing limited options, as continued erosion of the cliffside could put the iconic Dunkirk Lighthouse at risk of collapse in the coming years.
"Over the last several years, the storms have been getting more fierce," Lighthouse Treasurer David Briska told WKBW. "The lake hasn't been freezing as much in the wintertime, and so when all the storms come through, and the waves start hitting the shoreline, we are getting more and more erosion off the cliff, creating a problem for us because the cliff is eroding and getting closer and closer to the actual building tower itself."
The lighthouse was first established in 1827. In 1874, the structure also suffered erosion and was moved. A residence was built between 1875 and 1876, where it has remained to this day.
"It's been a visitor destination since 1984, and we get several 1000 people on our property every summer, coming to visit the city and taking a look at the lighthouse and looking at the lake and getting a little bit of our local Chautauqua County history here," Briska said. "It's important to keep it going, and the fact that it is one of the biggest tourist attractions in this part of the county is another reason why you'd want to keep it going."
At the most recent meeting of the Chautauqua County Planning and Economic Development Committee, a $50,000 grant was approved to find solutions. However, Dave McCoy, the county's Watershed Coordinator, says only three solutions seem likely.
"One is to move the lighthouse," McCoy said. "The other would be to try to stabilize the bluff, which would be a very intensive geotechnical event. Maybe drilling, pinning, whatnot, rocking, and it's like a 100 ft, it's a big. Or doing something out in the lake to attenuate the waves that come in."
"It (Dunkirk Lighthouse) is, unfortunately, under a bluff that is crumbling into the lake and someday it will be in the lake if there aren't corrective measures taken," McCoy added.
However, speaking with Briska, the solutions aren't as cut-and-dried. According to him, the difficulty would be moving the hundreds of maritime and military artifacts housed in the lighthouse.
"How you move the lighthouse tower and the whole house would be. I don't know, that's beyond my thought process," Briska said. "I don't know how you pick up a house that was built in 1875 and move it. And where would you move it to? Do you move it just back a little bit and then in another 30 or 40 years, they have to start all over again looking for other preventive things."
"They also talked about putting a wall around the whole property, a brick wall, or going out into the water and doing a brick wall out in the water like they have in the Dunkirk Harbor or doing the big stone rocks and stuff all over along the edge of the property and protecting it that way," Briska said.
WATCH: Chautauqua County searches for solutions as erosion creeps closer to historic Dunkirk Lighthouse
According to Briska, a feasibility study is currently underway. The $50,000 grant approved by the county legislature will contribute to the ongoing study, with three $10,000 grants that preceded it.
"The feasibility study will actually give us a better idea of what the safest or smartest or environmentally sound idea would be," Briska said.
