Santa Cruz City leaders were among those yesterday who celebrated the official return of a solid beam of light coming from the West Cliff Drive lighthouse. The flashing light atop the Mark Abbott Memorial lighthouse has been replaced with a single incandescent bulb that projects a beam of light at five second intervals 16-miles across the Monterey Bay. The lighthouse is owned by the city of Santa Cruz, but the light was owned and maintained by the U.S. Coast Guard, who replaced the solid beam with a flickering light 2 years ago. Congressman Sam Farr, who was also at the celebration, was able to relinquish ownership of the light from the U.S. Coast Guard and return it to the city. Farr told community members yesterday, “the light is a symbol of safety, and also symbolizes bringing the community together”.
