Buffalo Lighthouse Tours Resume | wgrz.com

BUFFALO, NY — The iconic Buffalo Lighthouse just reopened to tours after undergoing some repairs in the surrounding area.

Lighthouse tours have resumed after COVID and storm damage forced their cancellation for three of the last four years.

On Thursday, 2 On Your Side was able to take the tour and learn some of the history of this iconic lighthouse. Our tour guide for the afternoon was Mike Vogel, president of the Buffalo Lighthouse Association.

“It’s a total panoramic view of the waterfront. There’s a view of the city that is just dynamite,” Mike Vogel said.

Once inside, we climbed the 50 stone steps to the top.

“What does it feel like when you bring people here, who maybe haven’t been here before, or who haven’t been here in a long time?” » asked Kelly Dudzik.

“It’s fun. It’s just fun dealing with the people who come here to see the lighthouse. Especially with the people who live in this area because it’s so iconic to them. It’s their lighthouse. A symbol of the city,” said Mike Vogel.

But for three of the last four years, touring was out of the question. There wasn’t enough room for social distancing during COVID. The November 2020 storm destroyed the walkway, forcing the cancellation of the 2021 season. They opened in 2022, then the Christmas blizzard caused 30-foot waves that tore up an entire section of the walkway again . But the lighthouse remained strong.

“We are on the steel of the city. This tower was built in 1832 and 1833. The first light was in 1833. This was shortly after the War of 1812 and the destruction of Buffalo. It is the most old city building still standing in its original location,” Vogel said.

And yet, there is still work to be done.

“We would love to have a season sponsor. It would help us keep the venue open. We have a small entry fee, but even that bothers us. We would like to be open as often as possible. We need volunteers to keep the site open more often than we can currently open it, we only do it on weekends,” Vogel said.

Vogel says so far visitors have come from 45 countries, every state and territory except American Samoa.

“I had a group come from Luxembourg, and then people came, they were from the Republic of San Marino, which is this little microstate locked in Italy, so we get people from everywhere and you can talk to them . It’s really fun,” he said.

The lighthouse needs volunteers and is having a training session this Saturday.