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Once the $487,000 rehabilitation of North Carolina’s distinctive Cape Lookout Lighthouse is completed, the lighthouse, closed to the public for the past couple of years, will again open to the public.
However, you’ll most likely be paying a hefty fee to climb the 1859 tower. Park officials say that the proposed $8.00 fee for adults and $4 for children younger than 16 and seniors older than 62, would help defray the cost of maintaining the tower and keeping it open for climbs.
However, even with a fee program, the lighthouse would only be open on Friday, Saturday and Sundays from May until the end of September. That season would be even shorter this year because of the restoration work.
Previously the lighthouse was only open for special events, and then by reservation only, that is until officials in 2008 deemed the tower as unsafe.
While we believe it is acceptable to charge a fee to climb the tower, we also believe the price of $8.00 is too high, especially since you will need to also pay for the ferry boat ride to the island, just to get to the lighthouse. A fee of $4.00 for adults, $3.00 for children and $2.00 for seniors would be more in line, especially in these economic times, but that decision is not ours to make.
Ownership of the Cape Lookout Lighthouse was transferred from the Coast Guard to the National Park Service in 2003.
This story appeared in the
May 2010 edition of Lighthouse Digest Magazine. The print edition contains more stories than our internet edition, and each story generally contains more photographs - often many more - in the print edition. For subscription information about the print edition, click here.
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