RICHMOND — Two months after an underwater power cable to the historic East Brother Light Station failed and cast doubt as to whether the site could ever resume its role as a bed-and-breakfast, it is ready to open again and hiring innkeepers, Mayor Tom Butt has announced.
In early April, a submarine cable that carries power to the lighthouse in the San Pablo Strait died, leaving the three-quarter-acre island without electricity and prompting Butt, one of the founders of the nonprofit that runs the inn, to put out a public plea for ideas and support to fix the cable and keep the inn going.
The community rallied, Butt said Wednesday, noting that some volunteer experts were able to pull up the cable, cut out a damaged portion and splice the undamaged parts together.
While it may not be a long-term fix for the aging cable, it’s enough to get the inn — which has been closed since March 2020 due to the pandemic — running again, said Butt in an email newsletter Wednesday.
To that end, the nonprofit board that maintains the inn is hoping to reopen it this September and is recruiting a pair of innkeepers to meet that goal.
Successful candidates, according to the job listing, will be a two-person team or couple. At least one of them must have a Coast Guard commercial boat operator’s license.
The team will have to take on the roles of chef, maid and host extraordinaire for the five-room inn, which is open four days per week. Typically, visitors can book stays at the inn that include champagne and hors d’oeuvres, a multi-course dinner, a night in one of five rooms, and breakfast, as well a full tour of the 148-year-old buildings that comprise the station.
The job listing says “compensation is a function of the level of business, occupancy level and the economy” but points out that for the last year, the pay was about $140,000 for the couple. Benefits also include a health plan and living quarters on the island.
The innkeepers also must be vaccinated, according to Butt.
The resumption of the inn operations is a return to a charming part of Richmond-area tourism, but it also could be crucial to maintaining the historic lighthouse station at all.
Since local organizers restored the building and opened the inn in 1980, revenue from the operation has been used to cover more than $1 million in maintenance over the last four decades. New pier pilings, roofs, upgraded electrical systems, new wastewater treatment systems and other repairs were financed by that revenue after the station had fallen into disrepair, as it did in the 1960s and 1970s after the Coast Guard decommissioned lighthouse keepers in exchange for an automatic beacon for boats.
“Even with power at least temporarily restored, East Brother still faces the imminent need for expensive repairs to its pier and gangway, built in 1962, and suffering from some 60 years of saltwater-induced damage to its steel concrete reinforcing and steel supports,” Butt said in his email. “It seems the need never ends, but thanks to our guests, our dedicated volunteers, donors to our fundraising campaigns and our business community partners, we will prepare East Brother to complete its second century.”
To get more information about the innkeeper job or how to donate to the operation, visit www.ebls.org
