California's most famous lighthouse is now missing its remarkable 24 beam Fresnel lens. As reconstruction of the aging lighthouse gets under way, the first major step was to safely relocate the 16 foot tall, 8000lb first-order Fresnel lens, which consisted of 1008 individual prisms, to the fog horn building next to the lighthouse. The massive lens can now be viewed up close during visiting hours as work continues on the upper portion of the lighthouse which was damaged in 2001 when a 200 plus pound piece of the brick and steel framework forced closure of the lighthouse to the public.

As a result of the repairs, the famous annual lighting of the lighthouse will not return until the lens is returned to its rightful place atop the 117 ft tower. Estimates on the repair time range from 5 to 10 years depending mostly on funding for the repairs.