KILAUEA, Kaua'i — A campaign to raise $1 million to restore the Kilauea Point Lighthouse kicked off yesterday with a ceremony that included a Hawaiian chant praising it and the relighting of the dormant beacon.

The lighthouse was in operation from 1913 to 1976, when the Coast Guard replaced it with an automated signal light.

Since then, the historic structure has fallen into disrepair.

The Kilauea Point Natural History Association is spearheading efforts to restore the lighthouse at a cost of $1 million.

Additional restoration work on associated historic buildings will be the kuleana of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which operates the Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge that includes the lighthouse.

The service announced yesterday it will have at least $116,000 — and likely $120,000 more — for lighthouse complex restoration, this fiscal year. The historic complex, which includes three fieldstone keepers' quarters, a fuel oil shed, cisterns and a supply landing platform, has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1979.

But the community is focusing its effort on the lighthouse itself, which can be fixed for $1 million.

U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, state Rep. Hermina Morita, Kaua'i County Administrative Assistant Gary Heu and donors to the "ka lama kuhikuhi no na hanauna" (beacon for the generations to come) project were among those at the event.

Gary Smith, a co-chairman of the fundraising campaign for lighthouse restoration, calls the lighthouse "an old friend that needs help."

For more on the project, visit www.kilaueapoint.org or call 808-828-0384.