The National Lighthouse Museum begins aggressive fundraising campaign to open doors Summer 2013

Sept. 12, 2012 - PRLog -- The US National Lighthouse Museum on Staten Island has launched a 45 day online fundraising Campaign with Indiegogo (www.indiegogo.com/nlmsiny).  This is the first time the National Museum has used crowdsourcing to raise the funds it needs to open the museum in 2013.

The National Lighthouse Museum needs $600,000 for design/ display development, fabrication and construction and another $400,000 for initial operations including equipment and program expenses to launch the Center. Almost $180,000 has been raised so far with a pro bono crew of dedicated volunteers moving this museum forward rapidly in the last two years.

This location is the original site of the US Light House Services General Depot in the mid 1800's, servicing all lighthouse operations in the nation. The navigational history of this site as the "Mother Ship" of lighthouses nationwide is vital to preserve and educate future generations to come on their purposes.

Currently, architects have designed an innovative Lighthouse Educational Resource Center to initiate our project and we are currently awaiting a final Letter of Selection from the NYC Economic Development Corp. to move the museum mission into Phase ll. If approved, the group will seek grants from organizations such as the National Trust for Historic Preservation and Saving America's Treasures to help us with further museum development.

Shortly after opening, the National Lighthouse Museum will continue their mission in developing an adjacent, far-larger building on the 10-acre city site and would require a major interior renovation and an investment of some $15 million.

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The National Lighthouse Museum expects to attract many of the two million tourists yearly, who take the Staten Island Ferry, which docks a short distance from the old depot. In addition, plans are to introduce the maritime world to groups of children through regular class trips - teaching physics, history, geography, geometry and economics in a unique and exciting way.
The US coastlines and its environs have over 600 lighthouses of the 15,000 worldwide and due to modern navigational technology, many are endangered of being lost, decommissioned and abandoned...preservation is key!
In the past, merchants and seamen frustrated with shipwrecks due to the inability to navigate US coastlines requested more lighthouses be built - basically lighthouses were like the superhighways of the 1800's, allowing ships to navigate up and down the coasts and harbors with the guiding lights of the lighthouses, avoiding navigational disasters.
The National Lighthouse Museum is a 501-c3 charitable organization and all donations are tax deductible to the full extent of the law.
You can also go to www.lighthousemuseum.org and click on "Donate" at the top right of the page. All donations go directly to support building the National Lighthouse Museum.
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on Twitter at @NLMSINY US Lighthouse Museum www.twitter.com/nlmsiny