Save the Mount Beacon Fire Tower

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Meeting Notice!
Our Next Meeting is in the classroom on the ground floor of Beacon Town Hall on Wednesday March 7, 2007 at 7PM Sharp

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Read the March 7, 2006 Poughkeepsie Journal Editorial on restoring the tower
Read the February 17, 2006 Poughkeepsie Journal Article

Help us raise restoration funds by purchasing a T shirt designed by local artist Rafael Figueroa

Shirts are 100% heavyweight cotton and cost $15 ($18 for XXL) Write to us for more information, look for our Shirts in local stores and shops, or purchase them online.

NY/NJ Trail Conference:
New Map Set for East of Hudson Trails (press release)

Purchase the Maps Here

The Mount Beacon Incline Railway Society has set up an account to accept donations.

P.O. Box 1248
Beacon, NY 12508
Attention:
Fire Tower Restoration Fund.

Checks should be made payable to MBIRRS c/o Fire tower.

Fundraising contacts:
Leonard Behney
Katy Bell

For answers about the project, please write to Andy at Andy@beaconfiretower.org.

The fire tower stands guard over this site, and deserves to be preserved. A grassroots group of volunteers understands this, and the rest of the community should help it in this worthwhile effort. - Poughkeepsie Journal

The South Beacon Mountain Fire Tower was built in 1931 on the site of an earlier, possibly wooden, structure and was used by the State of New York to spot fires for five decades.

Fire towers once served an important role in protecting our forests and natural heritage. Numbers of them dot ridges throughout the Hudson Valley and other parts of New York State. Our fire tower stands on South Beacon Mountain at 1650' and has been a treasured hiking destination for years.

The tower was "surplused" by the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) in 1987 and rapidly began to deteriorate.

This does not have to be.

Many towers in our region have been successfully restored. (Mount Nimham Project) This has been accomplished through the efforts of dedicated local citizen groups. A working group composed of area residents and representatives of the City of Beacon, the Mount Beacon Incline Railway Society, Scenic Hudson, the NYS Parks Department and DEC has been meeting since February to plan the tower's rehabilitation.

Your help is needed.

The cost, including the tower footing emergency stabilization and with labor provided mostly by volunteers, is estimated between $15,000 and $20,000. Additional donations will be needed for future upkeep of the tower and for signs and interpretive exhibits.

A working group is soliciting old photographs of, or from, the tower as well as other rememberances. These may be included in future interpretive signs.

If destroyed, we would lose a wonderful destination with unsurpassed views of the Hudson River Valley, the Taconic and on a clear day, the skyscrapers of New York.

A Message from Mayor Clara-Lou Gould

On top of Mount Beacon stands an historic fire tower in need of major repair. Fire towers once served an important role in protecting our forests. They were built on hilltops, so they also provided beautiful views. The Mount Beacon tower is really special in that regard. From the combination mountain and tower height of 1,650 feet the view is spectacular. On a clear day you can see--well perhaps not forever, and perhaps not the west coast of Ireland--it's too far south for that--but definitely the skyline of Manhattan, and the distant hills of Pennsylvania. And in the forefront a magnificent view of our Hudson River, with our communities displayed in their perspective to the Valley.

If the tower is not restored this piece of local history will be destroyed, and our area will lose an attraction visitors have enjoyed for almost 70 years.

What is the Restoration Project About?
Last Update February 7, 2007 02085 Site Created by Taconicarts.com