The decision was made to replace the outer face of the concrete blocks and strengthen the remaining original blocks with cement and steel reinforcements. A total of 3,000 blocks were needed to complete the restoration and had to be produced using special molds. The restoration work on the tower began in September 2003. Though increased costs of the restoration resulted in another need of funding to complete the project. In 2003, federal funding for another $100,000 came from the National Park Services "Save America’s Treasures Act" and it was endorsed by Senators Christopher Dodd and Joseph Lieberman. Delays in the appropriation of funding delayed the second phase of the structural restoration until June 2005; and the work was conducted from July through early November. The relighting and re-dedication of the lighthouse was held on October 15, 2006. The lighthouse has been claimed to be a memorial tower in various sources, including the 1994 "America's Atlantic Coast Lighthouses: A Traveler's Guide" which states "the tower was built as a memorial tower and as a symbolic representation of the USCG lighthouse keeping responsibilities." D'Entremont notes that the misunderstanding stems from an article from 1955 in "U.S. Coast Guard Magazine" and acknowledges that it has come to serve as a memorial. The lighthouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.