The Town of Rockland received the lighthouse as part of the Maine Lights Program in 1998. The purpose of this program was to alleviate the Coast Guard from the responsibility of maintaining these historic structures that for their purposes had become somewhat redundant with the automation of the aid to navigation. Tight government budgets necessitated that something be done and in an effort to preserve and not tear down these structures, the Maine Lights Program was initiated to deed lighthouse structures from the Coast Guard to municipalities, other government organizations or non profit groups. Unable to undertake the effort involved in restoring and maintaining t
he lighthouse, the town of Rockland leased the Rockland Breakwater Lighthouse to The Friends of Rockland Breakwater Lighthouse which was formed as a non profit to meet the challenge. For a small group of people, this might have seemed to be a daunting task. The building had been uninhabited since the last Coast Guard keeper was removed in 1965. With virtually no maintenance having been done in the intervening years, the lighthouse had suffered the assaults of coastal weather, Maine winters, roof leaks and vandalism. After some initial fund raising and grant writing, work was ready to begin.
Major accomplishments in those first five years included hiring a contractor to remediate hazardous materials from the lighthouse, upgrading electrical work, replacing the tower railing with historically accurate reproduction railing, and major cleanup in order to invite the public into work in progress. Windows were restored, and authentic storm shutters designed and installed to secure the building against further vandalism.
Work continued restoring the engine room windows by replacing the glass block installed by the Coast Guard to secure the building with historically accurate reproduction windows and storm shutters. Wainscoting, and trim have been matched to pieces found at the lighthouse and every effort is made to maintain historic accuracy.
