Presque Isle Lighthouse Wins by Five Votes, Joins Kamin Science Center Exhibit

An exact replica of the Presque Isle Lighthouse from Erie edged into Pittsburgh’s Miniature Railroad and Village by the slimmest of margins — 2,273 votes out of 6,022, five more than the Koontz Coffee Pot’s 2,268 — and was announced at a media event on Thursday, Feb. 26 before making its public debut when the exhibit reopened Saturday, Feb. 28. NEXTpittsburgh reported the vote totals and described the lighthouse as the community pick from a field of regional nominees.

The new model includes local materials: Miniature Railroad and Village Manager Nikki Wilhelm noted at the press event that, “The sand, she added, is actually from Presque Isle.” ErieNewsNow also reports community partners were involved in the project, and published a statement reading, “The Lake Erie Lights of PA thank the Kamin Science Center and Penn State Virtual Augmented Reality Lab - VAR Lab for support on the project.”

The addition expands the long-running 80-by-30-foot exhibit. CBS Pittsburgh described the Miniature Railroad and Village as having “nearly 60 displays that tell the story of western Pennsylvania,” and listed existing miniatures such as the Stone chapel in Evans City Cemetery from Night of the Living Dead, Gus and Yiayia’s Ice Ball Cart, and Kaufmann’s Department Store. WPXI framed the lighthouse as joining “57 other mini models celebrating local history” and noted the Presque Isle Lighthouse is now the third model to be chosen by public vote. WPXI also quoted Kim Amey saying, “It’s really exciting to involve the community and get people really excited about the models that are going to be on the railroad.”

The Miniature Railroad and Village carries more than a century of history. CBS traced its roots to Charles Bowdish’s Brookville scenes, reported the exhibit moved to the Buhl Planetarium and Institute of Popular Science in 1954, and noted it expanded and reopened at the science center in 1992. The lighthouse installation reopened with the rest of the exhibit after its annual maintenance closure, and CBS included a photo credit for Daniel Simonson for coverage of the model.

The Presque Isle Lighthouse is also tied to institutional change at the science center. CBS reported this is the first addition since the Carnegie Science Center was renamed the Kamin Science Center following a $65 million donation from Daniel G. and Carole L. Kamin. CBS said the center plans to transform about 75 percent of its offerings over the next couple of years and listed recent and upcoming projects including the Sports360 exhibition that opened in December, the Science of Speed indoor kart track opening this summer, a responsive science display on climate change, a reimagined first-floor gallery, and beautification of the North Lot.

NEXTpittsburgh noted the lighthouse was technically the center’s 2025 addition but was delayed amid the renaming at the end of last year, and observed that new models usually debut in late September or early October. Coverage across outlets used two local nicknames for the structure, calling it “affectionately known by locals as ‘the flashlight’” in WPXI and referring to it as the “Flash Light” in CBS. Photographers Roman Hladio and Daniel Simonson supplied images for local coverage, with ErieNewsNow byline Lillian Baldi reporting the lighthouse “will shine its light across the Miniature Railroad in Pittsburgh” when on display. The model’s narrow five-vote victory cements a piece of Erie shoreline in Pittsburgh’s miniature landscape as the Kamin Science Center rolls into a year of major changes.