THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, January 31, 1997 TAG: 9701310557
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: LANE DEGREGORY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 58 lines
Move it or lose it.
That's what federal scientists said about the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse nine years ago.
And now, a group of North Carolina State University professors have shored up that contention and have agreed that if the spiral-striped beacon is not slid back from the shore soon it will tumble into the sea.
``If the Hatteras lighthouse is to be preserved for enjoyment by future generations, the only option that is consistent with existing public policy is to move the lighthouse farther from the sea,'' says the executive summary of the Report of the Ad Hoc Committee on the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, which was released Thursday.
``Since 1988, additional information has been learned about the structural geology of the Hatteras shore, rate of shoreline retreat, rate of sea-level rise and coastal storms,'' the report says. ``This information has increased the probability that the lighthouse will be destroyed by the Atlantic Ocean unless it is moved.''
Towering 208 feet above the Outer Banks and weighing more than 3,000 tons, the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse is the nation's tallest brick beacon. When it was built in 1870, it sat a quarter-mile from the sea. But storms have eroded the beach around the tower's octagonal base. An average of 12.8 feet of shoreline washes away from the area each year. Today, only 120 feet of sand separates the tower from the tides.
One big blow could send the beacon to a watery grave.
In 1988, the National Academy of Sciences studied the lighthouse and recommended that the National Park Service move it from the encroaching ocean. This fall, North Carolina Senate President Pro Tem Marc Basnight, D-Dare, asked N.C. State University Chancellor Larry Monteith to appoint a committee to update that study and come up with its own recommendations on the lighthouse. The committee's report reinforces the earlier study's call for action.
``The ad hoc committee recommends that the National Park Service proceed as soon as possible with its present plans to obtain the financial resources necessary to preserve the lighthouse by moving it and the other structures in the Historic District approximately 2,500 feet to the southwest and about 1,600 feet from the east shore of Hatteras Island,'' says the N.C. State University report.
Park Service personnel have said they plan to request federal funds to move the lighthouse this spring. Current cost estimates say the project will require about $12 million. Some private funds also may beused.
Already, more than $3 million in federal funds has been spent studying options to save the lighthouse, shoring up the structure and implementing interim measures, such as stacking sandbags around the base and planting sea grass offshore, to save it.
If Congress allocates enough money to move the tower, it could be slid back within two years.
``This new report will help us when we go to Congress to ask for funding,'' National Park Service spokesman Bob Woody said Thursday from his Manteo office. ``It doesn't surprise us that the committee endorsed the National Academy of Sciences study.''