Beyond their beauty and romance, lighthouses can provide valuable lessons for rebuilding along the shoreline in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. The Committee to Save the Bird Homestead in Rye will present a lecture by preservation architects Walter Sedovic and Jill Gotthelf, “Beacons of Sustainability: Lighthouses of the Eastern Seaboard,“ on Saturday, April 6 at 4 pm at the historic Meeting House in Rye. This is the first lecture in the Committee’s new series, “After the Storm: Toward a More Resilient Shoreline.” The Long Island Sound Study, Save the Sound, and the Friends of Read Wildlife Sanctuary are co-sponsoring the series.
The lecture series will bring leading experts in environmental protection, historic preservation, and science to the Meeting House to explore ways to make the Sound shore more resilient and sustainable.
The firm Walter Sedovic Architects of Irvington specializes in sustainable preservation and has worked on the restoration of 17 historic lighthouses. Sedovic and Gotthelf will discuss what can be learned from the existence of lighthouses in harsh coastal conditions. These lessons can inform decisions on rebuilding along the shoreline in a more sustainable manner — especially when combined with environmental restoration efforts for salt marshes and other natural buffers.
The nonprofit Committee to Save the Bird Homestead works to preserve and restore the Bird Homestead and the Meeting House, two adjoining historic properties located on the banks of the Blind Brook estuary, to conserve their coastal habitat, biodiversity, and natural systems, and to inspire, foster and promote an appreciation of coastal ecology, historic preservation, science, sustainability, and the legacy of the Bird family.
Admission is $5 per person. The Meeting House is located at 624 Milton Road, Rye, NY 10580, across from the Dock Deli. For further information please contact: birdhomestead.meetinghouse@gmail.com or 914-967-0099.
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