Bill would allow lighthouse to become home for cremated remains

A Connecticut lighthouse on Long Island Sound is moving closer toward becoming a final resting place. Read more on realestate.boston.com.

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HARTFORD (AP) — A Connecticut lighthouse on Long Island Sound is moving closer toward becoming a final resting place for cremated human remains.

The state House of Representatives voted 118-26 on Tuesday to allow the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection to lease state-owned land under Penfield Reef Lighthouse, off Fairfield’s coast, to a private company that’s seeking to purchase the 145-year-old structure from the federal government.

America’s Castles LLC is working with the nonprofit Eternal Light Foundation on a plan to transform the lighthouse into a columbarium — a structure with niches for memorial urns — and use some of the proceeds to maintain the historic site.

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Representative Cristin McCarthy Vahey, Democrat of Fairfield, says the US Coast Guard will still maintain the light for marine use.

The bill awaits Senate action.

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