By DANA TIMS/YachatsNews.com
Each year more than 800,000 people pull off U.S. Highway 101 to visit the Heceta Head Lighthouse state scenic viewpoint 12 miles south of Yachats.
Of those, nearly 50,000 make the windy, half-mile uphill hike to the park’s centerpiece, the Heceta Head Lighthouse.
What almost no one has done for nearly a year, however, is actually set foot inside the 126-year-old lighthouse. And, at the rate things are going, it’s likely to be a good while longer before anyone does.
An ongoing dispute between the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department, which manages the lighthouse, and Lane County, which issues building permits for maintenance work periodically needed there, is keeping the doors locked to all but a few park rangers who inspect the facility on a weekly basis.
“Many people are extremely frustrated because we’re talking about a historic resource that should be open to everyone,” said Yachats resident Linda Johnson, who has logged 400 hours volunteering at the lighthouse over the past four years. “All we want to know is, what will it take to get this resolved?”
The standoff can be traced to July 2018, when park rangers noticed a crack in the metal I-beam that supports the lighthouse’s English-made Fresnel lens near the top of the 56-foot-tall structure.
Initially, the state did not think a county-issued building permit would be needed to make the repairs, said Kevin Beck, the state parks manager who oversees the lighthouse. So the state proceeded to put out a bid for the work, which was awarded to a California company that uses proprietary technology to repair cracked I-beams.
At that point, the county notified Beck that structural work of that magnitude did require a permit. Since the work had already begun, with out-of-state contractors on site and working under a tight timeframe, the state quickly submitted what it thought was the appropriate information to obtain a building permit.
Not so fast, came the county’s reply.
“They did the work before permits were reviewed and issued,” said Steve McGuire, Lane County’s building program manager. “At this point, we’ve asked for more information from the state so we can review that and, hopefully, proceed to get the lighthouse open again.”
The state agrees that the scope of the work on the lighthouse grew from its initial application, due mainly to the more detailed repair that became evident once the work got underway. But, according to Beck, the county now is asking for elements of the repair to the I-beam to be undone, something he said is, from a budgeting standpoint, highly unlikely.
“We have a structural engineer who approved the work we’ve done there,” Beck said. “At this point, we’re hoping that will be sufficient to meet the county’s concerns.”
In the county’s view, it is still up to the state to submit additional information showing that the lighthouse is safe for the public to go inside.
“We definitely have an interest in seeing the lighthouse opened back up,” McGuire said. “But right now, we’re waiting for the state to respond to the questions we have. They’ve not done that yet.”
Adding irony to the situation is the fact that the home page of Lane County’s website features a sweeping, colorful image of … the Heceta Head Lighthouse.
Despite the closure, the lighthouse’s beam is still operational. It remains the strongest light on the Oregon Coast, radiating its beam 21 miles out to sea.
The sides are now working on setting up a meeting sometime in the next couple of months to see if all remaining issues can be solved.
In Linda Johnson’s opinion, that can’t possibly happen soon enough.
“I’ve offered to drive our state folks to Eugene myself if that will help speed things along,” she said. “It’s literally a paperwork disconnect and it’s not really all that clear what one side is asking of the other.”
Others are equally hopeful that the situation can be resolved sooner than later. That includes operators of the Heceta Lighthouse Bed & Breakfast, which is just downhill from the lighthouse itself.
The bed and breakfast once served as the duplex residence of the assistant lighthouse keepers and their families.
“Our guests come from all over the world to see that lighthouse,’’ said Misty Anderson, who manages the facility. “It’s a huge tourism draw and not having it available for public tours is really unfortunate.”
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Freelance reporter Dana Tims can be reached at DanaTims24@gmail.com