Coastal project aims to save Madisonville’s lighthouse | One Tammany | nola.com

The super moon sets behind the Madisonville lighthouse Monday November 14, 2016. (Photo by David Grunfeld, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)

Work crews are breaking ground on a $1.6 million marsh restoration project on the Madisonville coastline that will protect the historic lighthouse that for nearly two centuries has stood watch where the Tchefuncte River empties into Lake Pontchartrain.

The long-anticipated project includes the construction of a new breakwater, a bulkhead, a rip rap shoreline and a 300-foot pier that will be used to bring visitors to the lighthouse once it’s rehabbed. The work is part of a series of planned projects at the mouth of the Tchefuncte River aimed at protecting the shoreline from eroding by expanding existing marshes.

Image courtesy of St. Tammany Parish Government.

Once built, the projects will also provide additional storm surge protection to vulnerable sections of the town of Madisonville, which sits behind the marshland.

It’s the first of 16 planned projects that the parish will undertake using federal funds produced by the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act, or GOMESA, which allocates a portion of oil and gas revenues from Louisiana to coastal restoration projects in the state.

Drone footage courtesy of St. Tammany Parish Government

The parish also plans to build dikes on either side of the lighthouse’s point, which it will fill in with material dredged from the bottom of Lake Pontchartrain to extend existing marshes, as well as another breakwater farther from the shoreline, which aimed at prevening storm surge from rising up the Tchefuncte.

“This is an exciting day for Madisonville and St. Tammany Parish. To be able to do what we’re doing out here to restore that coastline and protect that lighthouse — it’s going to be enjoyed for generations,” said Madisonville Mayor Jean Pelloat.

The Madisonville Lighthouse should benefit from a $1.6 million project that will build breakwaters and restore marsh in the area. The new marsh also should help slow storm surge up the Tchefuncte River and into the town.

GOMESA funds can be used in Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, and Texas for coastal restoration and hurricane protection. Since GOMESA was passed in 2006, Louisiana has gotten more than $723 million in funds through the act, according to the Department of the Interior.

St. Tammany Parish has received more than $8 million in GOMESA funds, including $1.8 million in 2023.

View of the surrounding area from the top of the lighthouse.

Now, Cooper hopes to put that money to use. He said Tuesday this is the first major project to break ground with GOMESA funds.

For John Ammerman, a former director of the Madisonville Maritime Museum, the lighthouse has historic value.

It was first built in 1837, according to the U.S. Coast Guard. During the Civil War, snipers reportedly used it to pick off Union troops who were attempting to control commerce up and down the Tchefuncte.

“The story goes that, the next day, the Yankees came back with a cannon and blew it up,” Ammerman said.

The lighthouse was rebuilt a few years later on its original foundation, using some of the bricks from the original structure.

Photo of old Madisonville lighthouse, date unknown.

It’s one of the oldest lighthouses in Louisiana, and it was manned until the 1930s. It’s now owned by the Town of Madisonville, but the Coast Guard maintains the automated light that still shines at the top of the structure from dusk to dawn.

But the shoreline around the lighthouse has been eroding. “It used to be on a five-acre parcel,” said Alexis Hocevar, the board president of the Maritime Museum. “Now we’ve got, maybe, an acre.”

The Madisonville lighthouse in 2008, when a restoration was undertaken.

The new project aims to prevent the shoreline from eroding. Once the land on which its built is protected, Ammerman and Hocevar plan to fundraise to restore the actual structure of the lighthouse to make it accessible to visitors.

“Hurricane Ida washed out the bottom three or four steps in there,” Hocevar said. “But it’s structurally sound.”

Email Alex Lubben at [email protected].