Restoration work has been completed on one of the original small buildings associated with the oldest historical landmark on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station -- the Cape Canaveral Lighthouse. The oil house, built in 1894, is located adjacent to the present main entrance of the lighthouse and is the same year the lighthouse was reconstructed on its current site.

The original and now restored oil house is 16 feet in length, 12 feet in width and 18 feet in height. Within it on numerous shelves were the many containers of kerosene used to keep the flame of the lantern lit that burned within the center of the Fresnel lens. The fuel was carried in five gallon buckets by the lighthouse keeper up the 167 steps to the lantern room where it was used to keep the wick of the lamp burning. It was brought to Cape Canaveral by boat every six months and stored in the oil house.

Later, about 1930 upon electrification of the lighthouse, two large fuel tanks were placed in the oil house to power a pair of generators installed in the lighthouse basement. Also, possibly about this time, a single window was cut into the east wall of the oil house which had no windows at all when designed. The generators and the tanks were later removed when commercial power arrived at the lighthouse in the early 1950s. The roof blew completely off the oil house during a storm in the early 1970s after the oil house had been abandoned.

When the money was appropriated to restore the oil house, it was mandated that it be done as an authentic historical restoration, meaning that it would be restored to the specifications at the time it was built in 1894. When the Air Force took custody the Cape Canaveral Lighthouse, the U.S. Coast Guard turned over copies of the original architectural plans. These included the lighthouse, the keeper’s dwellings, and the oil house.

Using these blueprints to return the oil house to its original 1894 appearance, authentic antique bricks had to be found and were eventually located in Orlando. These were used to close the hole on the east wall where the window had been installed. A special lime-based mortar of the time was recreated and used for restoring the antique bricks into the window opening and also used for filling voids between the bricks where the original mortar had fallen out or become loose over the years. The exterior whitewash on the oil house, which was not one of the specifications in the original drawings, was carefully water-blasted away under low pressure revealing the original red brick surface.

Gables and rafters made of southern pine were erected, over which a metal alloy roof was placed. It is believed to be very similar to the original, though there is still some debate over whether the original roof was copper or the metal alloy and there was no specification on the original architectural plans.

The roof was restored around two original ventilation ports located at the pinnacle of each gable. The original door to the oil house, long since removed was found, but its condition had deteriorated beyond possible restoration. An authentic replica of the door was created, again using southern pine, and overlaid with a metal sheeting similar to the original door. It was then attached to the oil house door frame with metal strap hinges, as was the original. Authentic replicas of the two oil tanks may also be recreated to closely simulate the interior environment of the oil house. The oil house restoration was done by Nelco, a Tampa company, and took three months to complete.

It is hoped that sufficient money can soon be found to paint the lighthouse. However, a rust problem between the exterior cast iron metal plates and the interior brick needs to be addressed before painting can begin. Also, cast iron cornices that support the lower gallery, or catwalk, outside the lantern room, with associated cast iron deck and safety railings, needs some restoration work. Similar work needs to be done to the upper gallery that provided access for the lighthouse keeper to clean the windows. The original copper lighthouse dome, removed about ten years ago due to leaks may also eventually undergo a restoration and could eventually be reinstalled atop the lighthouse.

The long-term cost of the lighthouse restoration and buildings is being funded by the U.S. Air Force and the Cape Canaveral Lighthouse Foundation. It is ultimately planned to include an authentic reconstruction of the keeper’s dwellings.

Originally run by the U.S. Lighthouse Service and then the U.S. Coast Guard, the Cape Canaveral Lighthouse became property of the U.S. Air Force in December 2000. It is still a working aid to navigation. While the Air Force owns and maintains the lighthouse structure, the U.S. Coast Guard still maintains its modern first-order optic. The original historic first-order Fresnel lens was removed in 1994 to protect it from further vibration damage associated with launches from near-by Complex 36. This occurred over the years, eventually causing prisms in the lens to fall out. It has been restored and is on display at the Ponce De Leon Inlet Lighthouse located approximately 35 miles north of Cape Canaveral.

Note: The lighthouse is being painted and is closed until early to mid 2007.