It is a project that promises to be “extraordinary”. From the end of April, the Tévennec lighthouse will undergo intense renovation work. Planted in the middle of the raz de Sein (Finistère), this lighthouse was put into service in March 1875 to guide sailors in this area swept by the winds and currents which make navigation particularly dangerous.
Curiously, the Tévennec lighthouse is not built high up like its offshore counterparts. Unsuited to very harsh climatic conditions, the lighthouse saw twenty-three keepers pass by until it was automated in 1910. Reputed to be haunted and cursed, the Tévennec lighthouse has driven many of its keepers mad. The sounds of the sea rushing into a cavity located under the rock could explain this reputation.
A platform that can be used as a heliport already installed
Abandoned for a long time, the lighthouse had come back to life thanks to the mobilization of Marc Pointud. President of the National Society for the Heritage of Lighthouses and Beacons, the man had spent several months alone on the rock. The media momentum generated by this adventure had made it possible to raise funds and convince the State to renovate the place. On Friday, Ateliers DLB announced that the site would be launched at the end of April. “It’s a construction site that is completely atypical in terms of its environment and the fact that it’s a house on a rock. The logistical aspect is a challenge for the teams”, explains Sandrine Rolland, director of the workshops specializing in the restoration of historical monuments.
A platform that can serve as a heliport to transport men and materials has already been installed on site. A living area of 15 m2, able to accommodate four people with kitchen, shower and WC, was also built to allow the carpenters to spend the week on this hard-to-reach island. It is impossible to live in the lighthouse as its condition is degraded. “The woodwork, the walls, the paintings and especially the roof… Everything is very degraded. The lighthouse is oozing, it is decrepit,” described Romain Delahaye alias Molecule, a musician who had spent several nights on the lighthouse.
The building is deteriorating so much “that there would be a risk in the long term of the roof or floor collapsing. However, if the house falls, the lighthouse will not hold,” warns Jean-Charles Caraes, works director. Ateliers DLB must replace the framework and the floor, while a new copper roof will be installed by Aubert Couvertures by the end of September. The work, costing more than 600,000 euros, is supported by the maritime intervention fund, created by the Ministry of the Sea.