Hatteras Tower Closed

Bad news if your summer plans include a visit to Cape Hatteras lighthouse. This mornings 'Charlotte Observer' has an article about rust problems on the staircase in the lighthouse tower. The tower has been closed for two weeks already and is expected to be closed through the summer.

Take this link, Cape Hatteras Tower Closed to read the online version of the article.

Rick

Tell me it isn't so. We're leaving in July for the Outer Banks. I wonder if the grounds and buildings are still open?

Thanks Rick. I also read the article. Just my luck too! We will be at the Outer Banks from July 7th through the 15th with a planned trip to Hatteras light. Well, we will just have to make the best of it and photograph from the ground level.

Ed, when are you going to be there?

Tim - Keeping the flame lit...

Sounds like we just made it in time..........my wife Pat and I spent several glorious days on the outer banks in early June and count our visits to three lighthouses as "high" lights. The climp up the 253 steps to the top of Hatteras were a personal victory for Pat, who does not do hights too well. The view from the top, of the move path, really is special. I am sorry many of you will not get to do that this summer....but....another summer. Be sure and take the short ferry ride to Ocracoke to see and experience the village and the lighthouse there . Take some photos from accross the harbor of the lighthouse ...they turn out very nice. We also did Currituck and it IS open and a great visit. Hope you all have a great summer visit to some lighthouse somewhere!!

NOOOOOO!!! I'm going down, teh last week of July, and this was going to be my first climb, since October of 98! I was down there just before they closed it to move, and just before they reopened it.

I will be vacationing in the outer banks the second week of august and it looks like I will miss out of climbing the tower again. I was there last labor day weekend, but the tower had closed the week before for climbing. Maybe if I'm lucky it will reopen by the end of the summer, but I am not too optimistic about that.

WE are planning to go the week of 7/23-7/29. We will probably be there early in the week. We will still visit even if we can't climb. I'm looking forward to all the area lights.

I, too, have a trip planned for the Outer Banks (07/28-08/04) and it looks like I'm going to lose out on the opportunity again!!! I was down there in Sept. '99 and, at that time, the move was complete, but they hadn't reopened the tower at that point (it was a really eventful trip...saw Hatteras but couldn't climb it, got engaged, and then got evacuated by Hurricane Floyd).

I figured that this trip would be my first opportunity to climb it in about 10 years...but that's not going to happen . Well, I guess this gives me yet ANOTHER reason to plan a trip down there next summer .

I am sorry for those who had planned to climb Hatteras this summer, but this may have been a blessing in disguise. From what I have read it looks like paint has been covering the problem and in fact may have been the only glue holding this section on.

The blessing is that no one was hurt! Now maybe the problem can be attacked and not just covered up with paint. If the move helped this happen then it has turned out to be a positive thing not a negative. The light can be repaired but a life cannot ever be replaced!

Paul L Brady

Definitely Paul! Besides, I have been up the tower many times in years past, however Jackie hasn't. That's okay... another year, another vacation!

Tim - Keeping the flame lit...

Looks like the tower will be closed entire 2001 season.

http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/lighthouse/news/nc_news.htm#hatteras

The following is an e-mail I received from Cheryl Roberts of the Outer Banks Lighthouse Society regarding Cape Hatteras Light:

Hello, everyone,
The following message concerns the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse and planned repairs after a small piece of metal fell from a support segment of a stair step. The lighthouse is temporarily closed for climbing, but the park still remains open!! Be sure to see the Keepers Circle of Stones engraved with the keepers' names at the old site, a project completed by the Outer Banks Lighthouse Society and the Outer Banks Visitors Bureau.

Engineers who have inspected the steps say that age and salt air (evident in the amount of rust) along with the load of hundreds of thousands of visitors' footsteps have taken their toll. Repairs will have to be planned and completed. How long the lighthouse will be closed for climbing is undetermined, but safety and historic fabric preservation are priorities in this matter.

-Begin quoted material from a press release by Mary Doll of the National
Park Service, Outer Banks Group:

Park Service Requests a Second Look at Lighthouse
Outer Banks Group Superintendent Francis Peltier announced today that he has requested a second engineering team to evaluate and inspect the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse stairway. The team is expected to arrive in the park within the next week. It was determined by the Service, after review of the preliminary draft report completed by an initial inspection team, that further investigation was necessary to ensure that a variety of options are considered for treatment of the structure. The secondary team should complete their analysis and provide a draft report to the Service within a week of visiting the site. The final report of the initial investigation team will soon be completed, and the results released to the public. The lighthouse will remain closed until further notice. It is not unusual for a secondary opinion to be requested by the Service in complex situations involving significant park resources and large numbers of visitors. The Cape Hatteras Lighthouse is a National Historic Landmark visited by over 200,000 visitors per year. The stairway system in the lighthouse is a complex design, which will require unique expertise for proper evaluation. "The Service fully realizes the importance of moving expeditiously with repairs so that the lighthouse can re-open in a timely manner," stated Peltier. "We must, however, take the time that is necessary to arrive at the best decision possible to provide for the safety of our visitors, the safety of our staff, and for the preservation of the lighthouse itself." Due to safety concerns, National Park Service officials closed the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse to climbing by the public on June 11, 2001, when a small (3 *" x 2 *" x 5/8"), relatively heavy, support segment from the cast iron, spiral stairway dislodged and fell. Although the lighthouse was open to the public at the time, the falling segment did not strike any visitors.
-End quoted material.

We'll keep you informed of the progress in this matter.
Outer Banks Lighthouse Society

Tim - Keeping the flame lit...


[This message has been edited by engbrady (edited 06-27-2001).]

Tim
Thanks for this report on Cape Hatteras.
Mike

The Lighthouse digest is right on top of things.

They managed to get an article about this in their latest issue. It must have just made the deadline.

This will reach many who will at least be forearned of their disapointment.

Dennis