Received the below message from the Outer Banks Lighthouse Society concerning Cape Hatteras re-opening and hours:
The following is a quoted news release from the Cape Hatteras Group,National Park Service:
NEWS RELEASE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE OUTER BANKS GROUP
For Immediate Release
For Information Contact
Robert E. Woody (252) 473-2111x122
CAPE HATTERAS LIGHTHOUSE OPENS FOR GENERAL PUBLIC MAY 26th
BUXTON, NC—The Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, closed since November 22, 1998,will reopen its doors to the general public at 10 AM, Friday, May 26, 2000. The lighthouse will have been closed 550 days, during which time it was prepared for relocation, lifted, moved 2900 feet, set down on a new foundation, and made ready for public visitation once again.
While the light station grounds will not be available to the public until mid-July, a 10-foot wide safety corridor leading from near the Buxton Woods Picnic Area along Cape Point Road and through the woods will take visitors to the lighthouse entrance. Park volunteers, as in years past, will staff the lighthouse making access available to the public on a regular and continuing
basis. National Park Service negotiations with JHC, Inc., the contractor building the infrastructure facilities for the station, has enabled the lighthouse, once it is opened to the public, to remain open throughout the summer and up to the traditional closing date of Columbus Day, October 9, 2000.
Entry into the lighthouse is free this season, but the lighthouse will become part of the NPS Fee Demonstration Program in 2001. An implementation plan for the collecting and dispensing of revenues will be developed this year and will be submitted for approval before the lighthouse opens next year.
Summer hours for the lighthouse will be from 10 AM to 4 PM daily. The lighthouse is subject to closure whenever weather conditions make it unsafe for visitors, or when other conditions present unacceptable public safety risks or create adverse resource impacts to the structure.
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May 17, 2000
