Star Island Receives Grant to Focus on Sustainability

Star Island Corporation CEO Victoria Hardy announced this week that Star Island received a grant from the Barbara K. & Cyrus B. Sweet III Fund of the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation for an energy planning initiative on Star Island. The funds will be used to support a study by the Island Institute of Rockland Maine to determine the most cost-effective source of renewable energy that will help Star Island achieve energy independence. The Island Institute is a membership-based community development organization focusing on the Gulf of Maine, particularly the 15 year-round island communities off the Maine coast. Star Island is based off the coast of Portsmouth.

Hardy said, One of our strategic and long-range goals is to become energy independent. We are looking at alternative energy sources to operate our island power plant, and solar energy is one of the avenues we are considering.  The Star Island power plant must generate sufficient kilowatts to power the waste water treatment plant, the reverse osmosis desalination system, kitchen and laundry equipment, and the supply of electricity for mechanical systems, lights, and outlets for 34 buildings.

One Shoaler described Star Island as a Model-T with a Ferrari engine, said Hardy. My dream is for us to end use of fossil fuels and put this Ferrari on solar power or some similar renewable resource. We are very pleased to have the support of the Sweet Fund of the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation to get us started in this new direction.  It is estimated that a shift to a renewable energy source could save Star Island as much as $75,000 annually.

Star Island Corporation was established as a nonprofit corporation in 1916 to hold and administer Star Island and its historic properties for religious, educational, and kindred purposes. From the late 1890s until 1916, Thomas Laighton and his partner, Levi Thaxter, owned and operated the hotels on Appledore and Star islands, visited by some of the most prominent artists and writers of their day. Some of the cottages on Star Island date back to the 1700s. For information, visit www.starisland.org, or call the Portsmouth offices at (603) 430-6272.