The Coquille River Light-house was recently repainted using a historic color scheme from the era between 1902 and 1928. Not everyone is enjoying the tan color with the red base. -World Photo by Steve McCasland

BANDON — Some people might say Bandon is famous for two things: its picturesque historic lighthouse and a community that never shies from debate.

Right now, the Coquille River Lighthouse is front and center in community discussion. It’s all about paint.

Last year, the building, which is under restoration, was painted a light tan with a red base.

Some people don’t like it, including the town’s mayor and leader of the Bandon Historical Society Museum.

“We, the Historical Society and the mayor, hope we’ll get the lighthouse painted back to a historic and satisfactory color for the people. Get rid of the red paint,” said Judy Knox, the museum’s executive director.

Knox and Mayor Mary Schamehorn, representing the city, have met with Oregon Parks & Recreation Department staff and the Coquille River Lighthouse Keepers Foundation about the issue. Last month, Knox indicated they’d received numerous complaints about the new color scheme.

In reality, the color scheme isn’t new — historically.

Sometime between 1902 and 1928, the Coquille River Lighthouse was a light tan color with a red base.

At other times during that period, the base was black, gray and yellow/ochre, while the upper part of the building probably went through several versions of beige, tan and white. At least that’s what State Parks’ preservation architect, Sue Licht, discovered during research.

Licht has spent considerable effort studying the annual lighthouse work reports. She’s taken samples of multiple layers of paint from the building’s base and had them analyzed. She took samples of the base and tower paint and matched them to create the current tan/red color scheme. She added that she has more sampling of the tower paint to do, and those samples also will be scientifically analyzed.

Knox and Schamehorn, however, aren’t convinced.

Knox, saying she represented the 400 members of the Historical Society, presented an 1896 federal Notice to Mariners indicating that, when constructed, the lighthouse tower and building were white with a stone foundation and a brown roof.

Schamehorn said there’s a lot of concern in the community about the color scheme, adding, “We would accept a stone color for the base — a gray shade.”

But, the debate is certainly no black-and-white issue.

Bandon Chamber of Commerce Director Julie Miller said the majority of comments she’s heard on the lighthouse colors from people stopping at the visitor center in recent months have been favorable.

“It seems to be a bigger deal to local people than to those from outside the area,” she said. “Those who haven’t seen it before think it looks great.”

And from Old Town, Port ‘O’ Call’s Tony Roszkowski said it’s just not a big topic for conversation.

“We haven’t heard much from our customers about the lighthouse colors, especially when compared to the uproar we heard when the cheese factory closed,” he said.

Licht thinks it’s appropriate to let the public know that the exterior coating (paint) colors on the lighthouse changed periodically.

“I’d like to have an interpretive panel showing the building’s different color schemes at different points in time,” she said.

 Licht said the bulk of her information came from official annual reports to the Lighthouse Board, which are available at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. The information also is readily available at the state library or online through the National Archives. All the photos she came across showed the base painted a different color, and they showed different paint schemes.

“The real question is, how do we want to interpret this historically?” Licht said.

State Parks South Coast regional manager Andy LaTomme, who also has entered into the discussion, seemed to suggest that no color is set in stone, especially since the  Bandon lighthouse is no longer signaling to mariners.

“You could narrow the period that you want (to interpret). You could choose on the basis of prettiness, or pick the first or last color used in the significant period, although it could be hard to document.”

The Cape Blanco and Yaquina lighthouses are active lights and, thus, were painted to U.S. Coast Guard specifications.

Licht, who has done preservation architecture for 20 years and previously operated her own architectural firm, is hoping for a cooperative effort with the community.

“We want to share information and work with you,” she said.

But from a historical perspective, Licht said her concern is the factual evidence.

“It’s not about politics or what anyone’s opinion of the colors is.”