The Hudson-Athens Lighthouse is 150 years old. Fans of the New York lighthouse say the building is in trouble. Without help, the structure in the Hudson River will crumble.

Two hundred wood pilings (posts) hold the lighthouse up. They’ve survived decades of currents and ice. But today’s huge ships bring new problems. 

 “They create a turbulence that’s like being inside a washing machine,” says Van Calhoun. He’s part of the Hudson-Athens Lighthouse Preservation Society. The churning water sucks mud from around the pilings. Water takes the mud’s place. That speeds the breakdown of the wood. Engineers think the structure could begin to tilt in three to five years.

“All four corners will begin to come down,” Mr. Calhoun says. “And ultimately it will topple into the river.”

Preservation society members want to put an underwater steel curtain around the lighthouse. That would shield the building from the turbulent water. 

But the project is very expensive. It could cost as much as $10 million. The society is trying to raise money for it—fast. 

The society says the lighthouse is a symbol of the river’s long history. The Hudson River was once home to more than a dozen lighthouses. Only seven still stand.

Most lighthouses are on shorelines. But builders put this one in the middle of the river. That was to keep boats from running aground on nearby mud flats. Sailors often couldn’t see the sandbars.

During the day, tourists visit the historic lighthouse. At night, it still warns ships of danger with an automated light. 

Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on Earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. — Matthew 6:19-20