St. Augustine Lighthouse & Museum offers free admission

By Angela Daidone | gargoyle@flagler.edu

Aside from cooler temperatures and fewer tourists, October also brings free admission to the St. Augustine Lighthouse & Museum for all St. John’s County residents and students.

“It’s the perfect time for locals to come out and enjoy their surroundings,” Beau Phillips, public relations and marketing coordinator of the St. Augustine Lighthouse & Museum, said.

Opened daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., the lighthouse is located at 81 Lighthouse Ave., right next to R.B. Hunt Elementary School. The exterior painted black and white stripes make it easy to recognize.

“We are a symbol for the community,” Phillips said, “and we want to be a place of community.”

Flagler College students are very much a part of that community and plan on taking advantage of the free admission offer.

“We’re always looking for entertaining stuff that is cheap,” Demika Gauthier, a senior at Flagler College, said.

Gauthier has only been to the lighthouse once before and fondly remembers the experience. Kimmie Nahm, a junior at Flagler College, was 7 years old the last time she went and can remember the experience as one she truly enjoyed.

“I would really like to go back up into the lighthouse and look out over the city,” Nahm said.

The St. Augustine Lighthouse & Museum is more than just a lighthouse. It serves as a learning facility where over 40,000 students a year come to receive education on maritime studies.

“Most people think of it as an attraction, as an historical theme park, which couldn’t be further from the truth,” Phillips said.

The lighthouse was saved by the Junior Service League of St. Augustine, which has allowed it to become the site that many enjoy and benefit from today. The JSL of St. Augustine adopted the rundown facility in 1980 and restoration was completed in 1994.

Throughout the year, the St. Augustine Lighthouse & Museum likes to show its appreciation for saving the site. Free admission with valid ID for students and residents of St. John’s County is just one of the ways to do just that.

“October is a randomly chosen month, it’s just a way to give back to the community,” Phillips said.