After being accidentally hit by a City of Beacon vehicle during the highly anticipated and appreciated milling of paving of Main Street this spring 2022, Beacon’s iconic Dummy Light hardware has been repaired by the City of Beacon’s Highway Department, financed by the City. The re-painting was commissioned to artist Erica Hauser to refresh the re-paint job she voluntarily did years prior (ALBB covered it in 2015), that had since gotten chipped from various vehicle collisions.

City of Beacon Mayor Lee Kyriacou hugs the Dummy Light after its restoration of parts and paint, after a City of Beacon employee accidentally hit it during milling and paving this spring.
*Photo Credit:* *City of Beacon*

During this week’s 8/15/2022 City Council Meeting, Mayor Kyriacou announced the restoration: "You may have heard this, the Dummy Light is back where it is." Mayor Kyriacou is known for his adherence toward historic preservation. Read the City’s full press release here.

During that meeting, City Administrator Chris White said: "I just want to thank Micky Manzie (Beacon’s Superintendent of Streets) for such a terrific job in locating all of the pieces of the light. And thank Dave Way and Sean Duturo for doing a fabulous job for putting it back."

After the unfortunate incident took place, City Administrator Chris told A Little Beacon Blog during a rally at Pohil Park for preserving abortion rights: “The employee who it hit is one of our best, and they felt so badly after it happened.”

Financing For The Dummy Light Repair

During City Council Meetings in weeks prior, City Administrator Chris mentioned that some funding for the acquisition of parts to repair this Dummy Light had been allocated from film fees generated from film projects being filmed in Beacon, like the recent regular, Poker Face.

Statement From The Artist Who Re-Painted The Dummy Light, Erica Hauser

After hearing City Administrator Chris note that a person was paid this time to repaint the Dummy Light, A Little Beacon Blog remembered that the person not paid prior was the local artist Erica Hauser, formerly of Catalyst Gallery, that has since closed during the pandemic (but her art lives on and on). ALBB reached out to Erica to learn more about the commission. Here is a brief interview with her:

ALBB: I thought I heard during a City Council meeting that someone was commissioned to recently repaint the Dummy Light during its repair. If true, was it to you?

“Yes it was me! Mark Price at Beacon Recreation called me after he heard that I had carefully low-key repainted it in 2012 - which was inspired low-key by Dan Weise, after I'd done a painting and shirt of the light in 2009 - and touched it up in 2015.

“I'd been thinking it needed a repaint anyway, even before it was hit in April by the paving truck. But it was nicer this time to be employed and paid by the City - or by the Beacon Recreation Department - to do it!

“I did it in early July, meant to coincide with the re-installation of the repaired light, but as we know that just happened last week, to great jubilation by all. Well maybe not by those who are worried about people hitting it.

“As for the paint job itself: these were the original colors and design circa 2006 when I first saw the thing. So in 2012 I wanted to match it. The yellow diamonds were actually faded peeling reflective stickers, so I just sanded it clean and painted yellow diamonds instead.

“I don't know how long ago the base was yellow, but people on the Beacon page surely know. I asked Mark if he wanted me to paint it all yellow, but he said no, it should be as it has been most recently. I'm saying this, because I had doubted it after some people were blaming the dark green color for the accidents!

“I was worried that they thought some artist had made the decision, which I would never take it on myself to do, in fact, I had meticulously matched the dark green and historic red!”

Thank you, Erica, for sharing these painting details. For Beacon history enthusiasts, you can add these details to your trivia cards.

Dummy Light In Pictures

According to Brian of @SpandexandSprinkles, the Dummy Light was in the last episode of “Severance,” which filmed in Beacon in March, 2021. ALBB has not fact checked this yet, as we need to check our subscription to Apple TV, but if you can confirm, let us know.

Dummy Light Safety Discussions

The paving collision prompted discussions about safety and the Dummy Light. Located at the intersection of Main Street and East Main (near Dogwood), the Dummy Light was supposed to replace a traffic cop decades ago near the train tracks. At this point, it is an obstacle in an already very unclear intersection which involves a hill and inconsistent crosswalks.

People in social media have suggested some sort of roundabout be created. Beacon’s City Planner John Clark has indicated that something be done to improve traffic and walking flow there. And Beacon’s City Administrator Chris has indicated that other vehicles have hit the cement base since the toppling of the Dummy Light during milling and paving of spring 2022.

It seems as if the campaign to Save Beacon’s Dummy Light is not quite over…