We are looking for individuals, businesses, and foundations who are interested in helping us save this majestic light. We can’t wait to be able to say, “Yes! Go inside the lighthouse! The view from the top is amazing!”
About the Foundation
In 2015, Mark Boyt and Michael Maxwell, descendants of the first private owners of the Bolivar Point Lighthouse, chartered a foundation to address the restoration and preservation of the lighthouse and, significantly, to make it open and available to the public for the first time in its history.
On June 25, 2018, the Foundation contracted Chris Hutson, AIA, and Tracy Hirschman Hutson of Hutson Gallagher Inc. and Patrick Sparks of Sparks Engineering to conduct a condition assessment of the lighthouse and prioritize and provide an estimate for its repair and restoration. To summarize, they determined the condition of the cupola emergent and in dire need of repair. “The domed cupola…is at risk of failure in high wind. Removal is recommended as soon as possible.”
The Foundation has as its first priority the repair and restoration of the Bolivar Point Lighthouse, an estimated $2.5 million project. Without its immediate repair and restoration, Bolivar is in danger of losing a precious piece of its history. This is an emergent need. The top portion is in danger of toppling. A large component of the restoration is removing the top and fabricating a new replacement (the cost of fabrication is almost half the cost of the entire restoration project per Condition Report 2018).
When repairs are complete, and the Bolivar Point Lighthouse is deemed safe once again, the Foundation is committed to making the Point Bolivar Point Lighthouse publicly accessible on a limited basis, especially to the students of Bolivar Peninsula, with an accompanying educational curriculum. The removed top will be preserved in hopes that it will become the focal point of the Foundation’s envisioned Bolivar Visitor Center.
We are pleased to have been placed on the GHF Heritage at Risk list. It is a recent achievement, and already the lighthouse is garnering welcome attention. The Bolivar Point Lighthouse Foundation is a Texas-based non-profit at the beginning of our serious funding search, and while we can’t quantify how being on the list has helped yet, we anticipate that being on the list will lend a level of urgency to our applications by amplifying the lighthouse’s needs to our coastal community, the rest of Texas, America, and even the international community.
National Register of Historic Places
Texas Historical Marker
Heritage at Risk List