WIND POINT - A committee narrowed the number of candidates for the Wind Point Lighthouse caretaker position to two after interviewing a dozen candidates Monday night.

The two remaining candidates will go through final interviews before a decision is reached within the next two days. The committee expects to announce at Thursday's Village Board meeting the candidate who was offered and accepted the position.

The committee, comprised of Friends of the Wind Point Lighthouse, village officials and members of the community, received about 160 applications for the position.

"We almost all came to the same conclusions with it. There was no big infighting or battles with it so it went very smoothly," said Deputy Village Clerk John Schmit, a member of the Friends of the Wind Point Lighthouse board and the committee. "I was amazed … I was very relieved that it went that way. It was a lot easier than I thought it was ever going to be."

The candidate will replace Jeff and Melissa Peterson. The Petersons cared for the lighthouse during the past five years.

The village started leasing the lighthouse from the Coast Guard in 1964 and took full ownership in 1997. The lighthouse was named to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.

The Wind Point Lighthouse, which is currently closed due to an extensive renovation project, was built in 1880 as one of about 220 lighthouses on the shores of the Great Lakes. At 112 feet, with 140 steps, it is one of the tallest on the Great Lakes.