F ormer visitors of the Perkins Island light station may recall a keeper’s house fallen sadly into disrepair — the windows boarded up, the porch crumbling and eaves rotting away.

Future visitors will never witness that sight, owing to a large-scale renovation project undertaken by American Lighthouse Foundation, made possible by donations from Georgetown residents, which has transformed the historic building.

“It gleams,” said Bob Trapani Jr., executive director of the American Lighthouse Foundation. “To watch the house slowly be transformed was purely amazing.”

Located upstream from the mouth of the Kennebec River, in Georgetown, the island’s light station is comprised of the lighthouse and keeper’s house, built in 1898, a fog bell tower, built in 1902, an oil house built in 1906, and a barn.

The keeper’s house restoration project was spearheaded by primary donors Tom and Jaana Sheehan, who moved to Georgetown a year ago and felt inspired to change the fate of the crumbling structure after seeing it while boating by the island.

“The important thing for us is that this historical structure has been saved for the community to enjoy,” said Tom Sheehan. “There is a story that goes with it and if you don’t save the structure you don’t save the story.”

Reconstruction began in September, carried out by J.B. Leslie Company, a South Berwick-based contractor specializing in a historic restoration. The estimated cost of completion was $43,000 for maintenance and restoration, very near to the actual cost of $44,875.

“Working on an island is always challenging,” said Trapani, who noted that the project took eight weeks, from early September to November.

“It’s an amazing house,” said Trapani, “and one of only a few that didn’t go through the modern automation” when the U.S. Coast Guard was updating the living quarters of many light stations in the 1960s and ’70s.

“We all know what the historical importance of the Kennebec River has been and these lighthouses guided so many vessels,” said Trapani. “There is a human part of it as well, that these were real people, the keepers and their families, that lived there through the seasons and struggled to keep the lights burning.

“We are the modern-day keepers,” said Trapani. “These historic structures cannot be built again, that’s for sure, so it’s up to us to safeguard the place they keep in the local history and in Maine history.”

rgargiulo@timesrecord.com

RECONSTRUCTION BEGAN in September, carried out by J.B. Leslie Company, a South Berwick-based contractor specializing in a historic restoration. The estimated cost of completion was $43,000 for maintenance and restoration, very near to the actual cost of $44,875.