Cape Hatteras Lighthouse Newspaper Articles

Reprinted by permission of The News & Observer of Raleigh, North Carolina

April 8, 1999

The News & Observer

Lighthouse-moving suit dropped

By JERRY ALLEGOOD; STAFF WRITER

Page: A3

BUXTON -- The legal challenge to moving the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse is over, but the debate continues over what will happen to the historic beacon and nearby beaches.

Dare County and a local lighthouse support association have decided not to appeal a federal judge's ruling that permits the federal government to continue working to move the 129-year-old structure away from the eroding ocean shoreline. County officials decided not to press for further action because the lighthouse would probably be moved before the lawsuit could be tried in federal court, according to county attorney H. Al Cole Jr.

Documents were filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Raleigh to formally dismiss the lawsuit, which was filed in January.

Meanwhile, workers for International Chimney Co. of Buffalo, N.Y., are continuing to prepare the 200-foot-tall tower for the move by removing its stone foundation and erecting a frame of steel underneath it.

Skellie Hunt, an ICC spokesman, said that more than half of the base has been cut away and that the rest should be removed by the end of April. The lighthouse will be gradually raised with more than 100 hydraulic jacks and then moved horizontally on steel rollers placed atop a bed of steel tracks.

At the new site, workers are digging a hole for a new foundation that will be made from a foot of crushed stone and a 50- by- 60-foot concrete pad 4 feet thick. After the lighthouse is moved atop the concrete pad, stones and another five feet of concrete will be placed underneath the 4,800-ton structure.

Judge Terrence Boyle of Elizabeth City last week denied the county's request for a court order halting work on relocation until additional environmental studies are done. He rejected claims that the National Park Service had violated federal law with the $9.8 million project to move the lighthouse and support structures 2,900 feet away from the ocean.

Hugh Morton of Linville, developer of the Grandfather Mountain resort and longtime opponent of relocating the lighthouse, said the state will lose a symbol even if the lighthouse survives the move. Without proximity to the ocean, he said, the spiral striped tower at Buxton will be like any other coastal lighthouse.

"It's a tragedy for North Carolina to lose its seaside emblem of the coast," he said in a telephone interview.

Morton, head of the Save the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse Committee, said he was not sure what his organization would do with money donated for erosion-control methods on the beach. "We're not just going to give it to them to move the lighthouse," he said.

John Robert Hooper, a Buxton motel operator, warned that erosion would eventually threaten nearby property and N.C. 12 when the park service abandons erosion-control structures now on the beach near the lighthouse. Hooper, who supported the lawsuit, expressed disappointment that the legal battle failed but said he hoped the move would be successful for the sake of the beloved lighthouse.

"I wish them the best as far as moving it," said Hooper, operator of the Lighthouse View Motel. "I sincerely hope it's successful."

Section: News
Edition: Final
Estimated Printed Pages: 2

Index Terms:
Cape Hatteras Lighthouse
NC
coast
decision
judicial

Caption:
photo

Steve Ryan, right, a National Park Service ranger, and reporters get a look at the lighthouse's granite foundation, which is being chipped away.

The Associated Press

Copyright 1999 by The News & Observer Pub. Co.

Record Number: 1999097064