Jupiter Dedicates Museum Building
Station J Building
On December 7, 2006 a joint celebration was held in Jupiter honoring the 65th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, and dedicating the "new" museum building to house the Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse and Museum. A sizable crowd attended the service, including at least one survivor of the Pearl Harbor attack.
 At attention for National Anthem |
After the presentation of the colors and the singing of the National Anthem, Mayor Karen Golanka placed a wreath at the base of the flag pole honoring the Pearl Harbor victims. Following this there were dedication speeches for the museum building followed by a ribbon cutting by Mayor Golanka and museum executive director Jamie Stuve.
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Roger Buckwalter, chairman of the board of the Loxahatchee River Historical Society, told the history of the Naval station of which this building was once a part. The building is the only one remaining from a Naval radio station established during the Second World War to locate Germen U Boats that were decimating our shipping along the coast. Many enemy submarines were sunk due to the efforts of this station, doing much to protect our shipping along the East Coast. The station was code named Station J, and the museum building will be known as the Station J Building. This building was the barracks for the married men assigned to the station, resulting in it commonly being referred to as the Barracks Building.
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Following the ceremonies, the guests toured the now empty building just imagining what it will look like after the museum is in place. The first floor will house the museum, ticket office, gift shop and a small video theater room. The staff offices will be upstairs along with archival storage and a class room.
The museum and the lighthouse will now be located on the same property making it much easier to visit both, or for anyone unable to make the climb, to visit the museum while the rest of the party climbs the lighthouse. The complex will be known as the Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse and Museum. This move was made possible thanks to the very generous donation of 1.1 million dollars by the town of Jupiter for the restoration of this historic building.
The museum will begin its move into the facility on December 8 with a planned opening on December 20. A later move will bring the Tindall pioneer home from its present location to a place between the lighthouse and the museum. This will consolidate all of the facilities with the exception of the DuBois home across the inlet.
Story and photos contributed by Stan Beckstrom
