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Aerial view of the Yaquina Head Lighthouse, Oregon's tallest lighthouse. Image by Mary Beth Selbert, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Newly painted Oregon lighthouse almost ready for tours

Tom Hoepf
Tom Hoepf

NEWPORT, Ore. (AP) –The newly repainted Yaquina Lighthouse on the Oregon coast is getting ready to make its debut.

The Bureau of Land Management says the 95-foot-tall lighthouse has been surrounded by scaffolding and wrapping since mid-October as old paint was removed and a natural cement wash was applied.

The project has hit some snags. Strong winds have ripped the protective wrapping. Then temperatures plummeted below the threshold for applying paint.

Yaquina Manager Timothy Fisher says the restoration mimics the process used 100 years ago. He says the theory is that the paint used in combination with a cement wash will cut the need for painting the lighthouse as frequently.

Weather permitting, it’s expected to take three more weeks to completely remove the scaffolding, touch up the paint and clean up around the base of the lighthouse before it reopens for tours.

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