a Victorian Lighthouse, a 200-year-old Fort, and an
unparalleled island wildlife habitat!
OUR MISSION: The
Rose Island Lighthouse Foundation (RILF) is dedicated
to preserving the historic and environmental integrity
of Rose Island.
We are also
committed to using the island's many resources (and lack
thereof) to provide schoolchildren and the public with
engaging educational opportunities in sustainable
living, renewable energy, and conservation based on the
keeper's resourceful way of life, plus history, natural
history and marine science. Further, we are
committed to ensuring responsible public access
to the Island and to the lighthouse.
Our
“Island For Sale” deal is a
whimsical program designed to raise funds for a profoundly
significant historic restoration effort. Using an inventive
and playful premise of "selling" square foot parcels
of the island, this program seeks to showcase interesting and
significant features of Rose Island and its surroundings, and thus increase public awareness
and interest in the Foundation's work.
Funds from this program will be used specifically to:
~
Restore the Lighthouse Tower,
Lantern Room, Basement Cistern, Windows & Doors, Fog Horn
Building and Boat House.
~ Become even GREENER
by updating lighthouse equipment to use
renewable
biofuels for heat
and electricity, and installing solar
panels to
supplement our wind power,
and composting toilets
for lighthouse and public use.
~
Restore Ft. Hamilton’s unique, bombproof,
9-room barracks with windows, doors, chimneys,
fireplaces and a public lookout atop a new roof;
~ Transform Fort Hamilton's northwest circular bastion into
a public observation area with sweeping
views of Narragansett Bay, the Claiborne Pell (Newport)
Bridge and Rose Island’s protected bird nesting habitat;
~
Provide
public access by improving the landing, the Foundation’s boat, and
providing “virtual” access on the Internet via
a live video camera.
~
Create a
preservation fund for the
perpetual
care of Rose Island’s historic and environmental
resources for future generations.
Ready
for some fun!?? Click
MAP
to explore our "Locations, locations, locations!"
(please wait for the map page to
load)
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The
Rose Island Lighthouse Foundation is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt
organization that first banded together in 1984 to save
the badly vandalized lighthouse. The project captured the
imaginations of skilled contractors, engineers, architects,
suppliers, and thousands of supporters who volunteered their
time, materials and money to fully restore the lighthouse
and put it back on the charts–a feat joyously accomplished
with the relighting of its six-second flashing white light
on August 7, 1993.
Six
years later, the Foundation fulfilled yet another dream
when it purchased the rest of Rose Island to save it from
commercial development, thanks to the negotiating expertise
of Peter Merritt and the generous contributions of the Prince
Charitable Trusts, the Alletta Morris McBean Charitable
Trust, plus the R.I. Department of Environmental Management,
which holds a perpetual, deeded conservation easement on
the property.
Now
that the Foundation owns this property, we are responsible
for living up to the terms of the conservation easement
– To protect and maintain the open space,
bird nesting habitat, remarkable historic structures, and
the unforgettable educational opportunities they afford.
Now
we invite you to work with us, and together
we will watch over this precious land to benefit future generations
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