Our Views: Lighthouse shines again
We’re glad that the New Canal Lighthouse on the New Orleans lakefront is shining once again after being severely damaged during Hurricane Katrina.
The New Orleans landmark is still being restored, but officials recently re-lit the lighthouse, a fixture of the Crescent City landscape for generations. Plans call for the lighthouse on the New Orleans lakefront to open next year as a museum that will focus on the history of the lighthouse, the lakefront and efforts to save Louisiana’s coast.
A nonprofit foundation is still raising the $1.2 million needed to complete the project.
But not long ago, fans of the lighthouse gathered to see its cupola lit for the first time in several years. Hurricanes Katrina and Rita had left the old lighthouse in ruins. The new lighthouse, constructed using vintage salvaged materials from its 1890 predecessor, is the fourth such structure to sit on the site since 1839. It’s a vital piece of history not only for New Orleans, but Louisiana and the rest of the nation.