National Park Service officials have given the go-ahead for planned repairs and improvements to the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse.
South Atlantic-Gulf Regional Director Mark Foust signed Monday a Finding of No Significant Impact, or FONSI, for the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse repair and landscape improvement project environmental assessment at Cape Hatteras National Seashore, the service announced Tuesday.
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The project is to rehabilitate the interior and restore the exterior of the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, repair or replace deteriorated materials and finishes, and selectively reverse nonsympathetic, or modern, treatments added after 1920.
The project also includes mitigating impacts to the Cape Hatteras Light Station landscape resulting from high visitation levels and providing a more immersive experience.
“Our team will now proceed expeditiously with finalizing design documents, awarding a contract and beginning work in 2023,” said David Hallac, superintendent of National Parks of Eastern North Carolina, in a statement.
The environmental assessment evaluated the impacts of repairing the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse and implementing landscape improvements at the Cape Hatteras Light Station.
The National Park Service selected and approved Alternative C: Circulation Enhanced and Lens Replicated, of three alternatives.
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Other planned work include installing new railing and balustrade using a noncorrosive metal on lantern balcony and replacing the existing light with a replica of the original first-order Fresnel lens.
For visitors, the plan calls for improving pedestrian circulation, wayfinding, interpretation and the visitor experience at the Cape Hatteras Light Station, and adding educational panels in key locations throughout the landscape to convey the history of changes to the buildings and landscape that occurred during and after the period of restoration.
To view the recently signed documents and read a full list of approved actions, visit the Park Service website.
