By Sharon Ko

WINCHESTER BAY, Ore. -- Since 1894, the Umpqua River Lighthouse has been a steady and welcome beacon for anyone navigating the Oregon Coast, but now the Coast Guard is debating whether to keep the light shining.

The lighthouse is a coastal treasure because it's one of only three that are still operating in Oregon.

"It's a real critical part of our heritage here," said Jim Akre of Friends of the Umpqua River.

But the unique aspect of the lighthouse is its Fresnel lens, it weighs two tons and has 616 hand-cut glass prisms that were shipped to Oregon from Paris.

"And we believe that it excites a great deal of tourism in and of itself," said Douglas County Commissioner Joe Laurance.

But now the Coast Guard is weighing the cost of keeping the lighthouse operational. More and more, modern technology is making lighthouses like this almost obsolete.

"And obviously they have a real point of invent of GPS that it is interesting how many people will or will not use this as an aid," said Akre.

But past surveys conducted by the Coast Guard show that the public won't stand for a landmark like this to go dark.

"And it was overwhelmingly in support of continuing operation," said Laurance.

If the Coast Guard decides to shut down the light, the lens might be moved to a museum. But public officials around Winchester Bay won't stand for the lighthouse to be dismantled.

"This is really living history. And there's so few places left where you can actually take a trip back into the past and see what your cultural heritage is," said Akre.

The Coast Guard will decide next month if preserving a local landmark is worth $3,200 a year.