Visitors to the Edgartown lighthouse these days are encountering more of a mystery object fully encased in white wrapping rather than the usual iconic structure. Work to repair the lighthouse began in mid-May and involves both structural and aesthetic repairs.
Although contracting for the project began nearly eight months ago, the current appearance of the structure has caught many in town by surprise.
“I didn’t think it would be as much of a site until I actually saw it myself,” said James Hagerty, the town administrator, during a recent conversation with the Gazette.
On Tuesday, during Edgartown’s most recent select board meeting, Mr. Hagerty acknowledged that the town should have put the word out earlier that the lighthouse would look a bit different for a short time, but that the information regarding the repair work is now up to date on the town’s website.
Mr. Hagerty also said that the work is on track to finish by June 18.
“Basically, the scope of work is kind of removing the coating from the exterior, which needs to be sandblasted,” he said “They’re sealing, re-coating the exterior, restoring two of the windows, preparing four of those kind of cast iron porthole windows, they’re looking at the railing and some of the components and bracket repairing some of that, they’re caulking the panel joints, they’re doing some cast iron replacement.”
Mr. Hagerty added that a dome was placed over the lighthouse by design to address environmental concerns related to the project. He said the cost for the project is about $643,000.
“It’s not easy to get public construction contractors to do work on the Vineyard, as you can see from the price of the high school,” said Mr. Hagerty. “Getting someone who can specialize in sandblasting an old lighthouse is kind of indicative of the market.”
The Martha’s Vineyard Museum operates the lighthouse under a license agreement from the town. According to the museum website, the lighthouse will be open again to the public in June as intended.
This article appears in June 5, 2026.
Why the heck would you need a “specialist”?
6 windows, caulking, and prep and painting for $673, 000 ? Are you serious?