Sankaty sprouts lifting beams
BY PETER B. BRACE INDEPENDENT WRITER
Preparations to move the hulking Sankaty Head Light continued during the past week with the insertion of steel beams that will help lift the 450-ton lighthouse off its foundation.

Looking downwards on Expert House Movers' president Jerry Matyiko (left) and foreman Michael Landen, top, as they maneuver a "main beam" under Sankaty last week. The steel is eased through holes cut through the light's 47-inch base. The westward creep of the 'Sconset bluff is evident in this aerial photo, above, taken Sunday of Sankaty Lighthouse which will be moved to the concrete pad seen in the upper left.

'Sconset Trust President Bob Felch reports that the move is still on schedule.

"Jerri Matyiko is putting in the major beams that go through the foundation of the lighthouse and he expects to complete that early next week [Monday or Tuesday]," Felch said of the Expert House Movers' president.

The beams stick out 10 feet from holes cut by diamond-toothed chainsaws through two layers of lighthouse brick wall, and will be used in combination with a unified jacking system to lift the lighthouse up onto more steel beams. From there, the light will be pushed hydraulically to its new location when Expert House Movers of Virginia Beach, Va. is ready to go.

PHOTOS BY ROB BENCHLEY/The Independent

"We're still on target for the first week of October to begin the move," said Felch. "The major consideration would have to be the weather."

As Nantucket typically experiences the aftereffects of hurricanes that torment the southeastern coast of the U.S. each year in September and October, Felch is understandably concerned about moving the lighthouse during the first half of October. Although the National Weather Service is tracking Tropical Storm Gabrielle, heading eastnortheast at 12 mph on Monday afternoon, the storm is expected to pass well away from Nantucket later this week. As worrisome as potential hurricane impacts on the moving of Sankaty may be for Felch and general contractor International Chimney, Felch is now dealing with the more immediate anxiety of securing the move area.

"The primary concern we have is safety," he said. "We're just trying to establish locations where people can gather to see the move. At this point, our plan is to establish points along Polpis Road adjacent to the [Sankaty Head Golf Club's] second hole because that's the best vantage point for the move."

Other than having to manage onlookers along the move path, Felch's and International Chimney's main worry is the stability of the lighthouse.

"We really can't have anyone on the site," said Felch. "It's a major construction site; there's a fall zone of 70 feet. "We will have volunteers from the 'Sconset Trust on the north end of Baxter road and one or two on Polpis Road directing traffic."

Felch added that the 'Sconset Trust will soon be putting notices in both island newspapers informing prospective gawkers that Baxter Road will be closed to vehicular traffic from Bayberry Lane northward

from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. I