A functional replica of an original wooden lighthouse. This is the "southern" lighthouse.

Excerpt from Lighthousefriends.com

.........“Given the historic significance of the breakwater,” says Burlington’s Mayor Peter Clavelle, “we came up with the idea of recreating the original lighthouse structures, and approached Senator Patrick Leahy’s office about the possibility of creating the replicas.” Leahy was able to obtain $250,000 for this project through a transportation bill in 2001.

The lighthouses were built on the Burlington waterfront by Atlantic Mechanical, Inc. of Wiscasset, Maine, so the public could view the construction process. Nearby, a kiosk, staffed with a historical interpreter, provided information about the Burlington breakwater and the lighthouse project.

It is obvious to even the casual observer that the northern and southern breakwater lighthouses are different. The original lighthouse plans could not be located according to Art Cohn, director of the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum. “What we did,” he says, “was use photographic evidence to create a set of plans that from the outside seem historically correct, and of course we chose two different time periods to represent - the smaller, southern light tower, which is circa 1857, and the larger, northern light tower which is circa 1890. We worked with the photographs and other historical images to ensure that people seeing the towers today would be actually viewing the same façade that they would have seen during those time periods.”

The two lighthouses are designed to withstand the environmental challenges that destroyed earlier versions. The lower portion of the northern lighthouse consists of heavy steel members capable of resisting forces approaching 400 pounds per square inch. The steel frame was covered with wooden panels, the bottom six feet of which are designed to break away in the event of a major catastrophic ice event, leaving the steel frame and the remainder of the structure intact.

At 7:35 p.m. on September 12, 2004, when the assembled crowd reached its terminal count the south lighthouse was activated. Seconds later, a flare lit the sky about the northern lighthouse, and it too began to flash. Speaking at the lighting ceremony, Senator Leahy remarked: “I love Lake Champlain, and I always thought its beauty could never be improved. But these distinctive new lighthouses proved me wrong. They bring an historical context to the rebirth of the Burlington waterfront. They are beacons that beckon us to enjoy and appreciate our lake. They welcome and guide pleasure boats, tourists and Vermonters looking for a picturesque place to relax and to enjoy the magnificent views. Lighthouse lovers everywhere are really going to enjoy seeing them.” .............