Andrea Macko reports for Porcupine Soup that the Hudson-Athens Lighthouse Preservation Society that is getting $500,000 from the state to help restore the Hudson-Athens Lighthouse. In an announcing the grant, Gov. Kathy Hochul's office said, “The Hudson-Athens Preservation Society will repair and restore the underwater foundation of the Hudson-Athens Lighthouse. This Phase II project will involve interior foundation floor core, foundation design, interior basement wall repairs, replacement of timber frame for the cast-iron bell, asbestos and coal removal and electrical system upgrade. This phase will allow the critical big work on the underwater foundation to begin shortly.” The non-profit Hudson-Athens Lighthouse Preservation Society announced in May that engineers were warning that the lighthouse could collapse into the Hudson River within five years if the foundation was not repaired. The grant is part of the Regional Economic Development Council Initiative. The Hudson-Athens Lighthouse has been guiding river traffic since November 14, 1874. It was a manned lighthouse until the 1950s, when it became automated. Read more about this story in Porcupine Soup.