CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Harbor West Pierhead Lighthouse, an iconic piece of Cleveland’s lakefront that has ushered safe passage for mariners and vessels for more than a century, will be auctioned off next month.
Located on the western side of the harbor and in direct view of Wendy Park, the historic lighthouse will be put up for public auction by the US General Services Administration after no interested government agency nor any non-profits expressed a firm interest in the property in 2021. The GSA will be auctioning off three other lighthouses beginning in late June, including lighthouses in New York, Connecticut and Michigan.
In accordance with the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act, the federal government offers to transfer these historic landmarks to new owners. Under the NHLPA, lighthouses are first offered to be available to federal agencies, state and local governments, educational agencies and community development organizations at no cost. The organization, however, must demonstrate that they are financially able to maintain the light station and make it available to the public for educational, recreational, cultural or historic preservation purposes.
If this process does not yield any interested party, the lighthouses are then made available via public auction.
The Cleveland Harbor West Pierhead Lighthouse, built in 1911, was first made available by the GSA in 2021 but went unclaimed. It will go up for auction on June 30.
“I would love to live there. I would totally live here,” said Denise Armstrong, who frequently marvels at the lighthouse during her daily trips to Wendy Park. “That would be a dream house of mine.”
After opening in 1911, the lighthouse was staffed around the clock by caretakers known as "keepers" for the next half-century. However, in 1965, the lighthouse became fully automated. With the advent of GPS, the lighthouse became obsolete.
Although it isn’t used anymore, the lighthouse is still a popular piece of Cleveland iconography, serving as the subject for countless photographs, especially when it freezes over in the winter.
