A couple of weeks ago, I said that the Cape Lookout Lighthouse was closed for maintenance and would reopen sometime in 2023. The other day, Jeff West, the Superintendent of the Cape Lookout National Seashore, gave an update on that maintenance and announced that the lighthouse at the southern point of Core Banks which has stood guard for 163 years, beaming out a burst of light every 15 seconds across the treacherous shoals of Cape Lookout requires additional repairs, the result of the elements and shifting shorelines. Without taking proper measures, the temporary ban on the public climbing the beloved lighthouse may become permanent. "It's a cumulative period of damage the lighthouse has suffered that we have to answer to," Jeff West announced the other day. "It's hard to stay in front of this thing." Some of that cumulative damage is related to the paint currently covering the tower, paint that does not allow the lighthouse to breathe, paint that causes retention of water that is disintegrating the masonry and rusting the cast iron embedded in the masonry, particularly on the stairs and the top of the lighthouse. Estimated cost for addressing these issues was placed at $5.5 million dollars. Now, 8 years later, and several hurricanes and nor’easters later, additional buildings within the 810 acres of the Cape Lookout National Seashore, including 40 historic structures on Portsmouth Island, also are in need of repair or relocation. West estimates that these more encompassing repairs will cost about $17 million dollars.
Right now, the design phase, where engineers are evaluating all that needs to be done to preserve the lighthouse and ancillary structures, is covered by existing federal restoration funds. The big hurdle is securing the money needed for the actual repairs. With today's current climate exacerbated with coronavirus pandemic-level inflation, supply chain delays and labor gaps, that hurdle looms large. Nonetheless, West and others are optimistically looking toward a 2025 reopening of the lighthouse. That optimism comes partly from the romantic attachment people have for the lighthouse, that lonely isolated sentinel, keeping watch over the shoreline and the waters of the Atlantic Ocean. Also, there is that connection visitors make with the past every time they visit the Cape Lookout National Seashore. That going back in time is why people love and really care about lighthouses.
But there are reasons that go beyond some romantic ideas. According to the most recent National Park Service tourism report, Cape Lookout had 562,461 visitors in 2021 who spent $27,621,000 in local communities near the park, supported 357 jobs in the area and had a cumulative benefit to the local economy of over $30 million dollars. Additionally, total visitors so far in 2022 has been 298,282 since July, according to the report. So, despite the pandemic limiting travel, and the main reason for visiting the National Seashore not being open to the public, the number of visitors to Cape Lookout has steadily increased each year.
And for all these reasons, West does not anticipate any issues with the ability to obtain federal money, but he also added that any and all donations earmarked for lighthouse restoration would certainly be put to good use. After all, time and tides wait for no lighthouse. And, in this spirit, it is worth describing the efforts of one family who cares about Cape Lookout Lighthouse. In the 1970s and 80s before the National Park Service had a definitive presence, the Dennis family, which for generations worked as lightkeepers and oil runners taking care of the lighthouse, initiated a fundraising effort with other local families to raise money for dredging and conservation efforts at the lighthouse. The current generation is represented by Joni Dennis who recently created the nonprofit organization Save the Cape Foundation to officially assist with fundraising efforts. Because the foundation is so new, their website is still under construction, however, Dennis explains they are already active on social media. "Awareness is our biggest fight right now," Joni said. "People need to know it's happening in our backyard. It's our heritage."
To increase your awareness, the Cape Lookout Lighthouse was constructed in the 1850s and opened in 1859. The lighthouse protects 56 miles of nearby shoreline. It has 207 steps and is equivalent to a 12-story building. The Cape Lookout Lighthouse is the only such structure in the United States to bear the checkered daymark, intended not only for differentiation between similar light towers, but also to show direction. The lighthouse's distinctive diamond pattern was painted in 1873 to help sailors figure out what direction they were moving.If they saw white diamonds, they knew they were moving east or west. Black diamonds fully visible meant they were moving north or south. Its light was automated in 1950, and the property was transferred from the U.S. Coast Guard to the National Park Service in 2003. Still, to this day, the light from the Cape Lookout Lighthouse is visible at least 12 miles out to sea every 15 seconds. To learn more about the progress in the repairs to the Cape Lookout Lighthouse and updates on its reopening, please go to my website, www.EmeraldIsleHomesforSaleNC.com and sign up for my blog. Ready to buy or sell? Call me at 919-308-2292. Explore the video tab for my weekly uploads to my YouTube channel. Subscribe to my YouTube channel and receive free donuts at my Flip Flops Donut shop. Text your email address to 919-308-2292 and subscribe to my newsletter. My book, "Live Where You Vacation" is available on Amazon.com or at Kindle.
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