Undergoing Restoration
After months of planning and design, the Seaport Museum and preservation architects Jan Hird Pokorny Associates (JHPA) are beginning the onsite work to restore the Titanic Memorial Lighthouse with a scaffolding now around the memorial.
The Titanic Memorial Lighthouse, located in the Titanic Memorial Park at the corner of Pearl Street and Fulton Street, is a formally accessioned artifact in the collections of the South Street Seaport Museum.
In 2023, the Museum selected renowned preservation architects JHPA from a highly competitive field to design a light-touch (and budget compatible) approach to the restoration of the lighthouse that prioritized first the stabilization of the artifact, followed by aesthetic improvements and restoration of the light and time ball. The restoration of the artifact is expected to be completed in 2025.
“We’re thrilled to be working with Jan Hird Pokorny Associates, Inc. and Michael Devonshire,” said Capt. Jonathan Boulware, President and CEO of the South Street Seaport Museum, which originally saved and now owns the artifact. “The Titanic Memorial Lighthouse will again shine in lower Manhattan as a beacon of history and hope in honor of those lost in the Titanic disaster.” Capt. Boulware went on to suggest that “When it’s complete, perhaps there can be a downtown New Year’s Eve celebration for New Yorkers.”
Join the Seaport Museum’s mailing list to receive updates, announcements, and invitations to special events in advance of the restoration completion.
The South Street Seaport Museum particularly invites the descendants of Titanic passengers and crew to sign up for the latest updates about the restoration of the Titanic Memorial Lighthouse.
If you have any questions about the restoration, please contact the Seaport Museum through the button below.
To learn more about this ongoing project, check out the restoration plans prepared by Jan Hird Pokorny and reviewed and approved by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. These plans detail the restoration and replacement of structural steel members, glass windows, and copper components, along with upgrades to the electrical system and hoist mechanism. The creation of a new time ball, cast from the existing one, allows the Museum to preserve the original while protecting it from the elements for years to come.
All interventions follow the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Rehabilitation of Historic Structures and follow guidelines established by the US International Council on Monuments and Sites’s International Scientific Committee on the Analysis and Restoration of Structures of Architectural Heritage. These standards call for a team approach to problem-solving and development of intervention, addressing the fundamental causes of deficiencies and deterioration rather than just their symptoms.
Restoration Updates and Interviews
In the first Collections Chronicles blog post update on the restoration, Shining a Light on a Unique Public Artifact, Martina Caruso, the Museum’s Director of Collections and Exhibitions, and Kurt Hirschberg, Associate Partner at JHPA unveiled discoveries uncovered through archival research for the restoration.
In the second Collections Chronicles blog post update on the restoration, Time Balls: Navigational devices, time-keeping instruments, or monuments to modernity? Caruso and Hirschberg explore the maritime history of time balls.
A Brief History
The Titanic Memorial Lighthouse, erected at the corner of Fulton and Water Street, is a memorial dedicated to honor RMS Titanic’s passengers, officers, and crew who perished when the ship sank after collision with an iceberg on April 14, 1912.
It was originally erected on the roof of the Seamen’s Church Institute (SCI), 240 feet above sea level, at the corner of South Street and Coenties Slip (now Vietnam Veterans Plaza), on April 15, 1913.
Building this memorial was a nationwide effort led by Seamen’s Church Institute as people banded together in solidarity after the loss of over 1,500 on board the ocean liner. The group present at the cornerstone-laying ceremony of 25 South Street decided to commemorate the heroism displayed during the tragedy and remember those who lost their lives by constructing a tower on top of the building by public subscription.
Everyone donated to the cause: wealthy socialites like Grace Vanderbilt, wife of Cornelius Vanderbilt, wrote checks and schoolchildren donated pennies and nickels. One year to the day after RMS Titanic’s sinking, the memorial was dedicated, 13 stories above busy South Street, in front of a crowd of nearly 300 people.
Designed by Warren & Wetmore (the architects of Grand Central Terminal), its signature time ball mechanism, which dropped every day at 12-noon, was activated by a telegraphic signal from the Naval Observatory near Lincoln Memorial Arlington, Virginia, and was used by local residents and workers in Lower Manhattan to set their watches. The time ball consisted of a bronze frame, four feet across, covered with canvas that was painted black for maximum visibility, and it was put into operation November 1, 1913.
The structure remained in its original location until 1968. After 55 years of service, SCI moved its headquarters to 15 State Street and the old building, along with the Lighthouse, was set to be demolished.
A group of concerned preservationists persuaded the demolition company to donate the lighthouse to the Seaport Museum. In a letter to the company, Museum founding president Peter Stanford wrote the following: “The Lighthouse atop the building was dedicated many years ago, when new, to the victims of the Titanic disaster. We believe this monument should not be doomed as part of the obsolete building to which it happens to be attached. The tragedy of the Titanic, and its lessons to history, are not less real today than in 1912…It would dishonor the memory of the victims by destroying the monument within the lifetimes of those who remember.”
The top of the tower was donated to the South Street Street Seaport Museum by the Kaiser-Nelson Steel and Salvage Corporation in July of 1968, and after seven years it was erected in its current location, on a lighthouse-inspired concrete podium, in May 1976 with funds provided by the Exxon Corporation.
Today, the structure anchors a small park at the intersection of Fulton and Pearl streets, at the entrance of the South Street Seaport Historic District. It is a visible welcome to the seaport district, providing a space for people to stop and reflect on Titanic’s tragic story, and its impact across every level of society in New York, and highlighted class inequities.
Explore the Collections
Through the new and improved Collections Online Portal, you can explore highlights from the various collections within the Museum. Whether items are preserved in storage, displayed in Museum galleries, or on loan to fellow institutions, you can digitally discover some of these special objects in digital format.
Research Policies
Conducting research is a vital part of the Seaport Museum’s work. The Museum is actively engaged in a complete inventory of its collections and archives. This ongoing project will improve future public access to the materials in our care and ensure that items are documented and preserved for future generations.