From our news services
Three separate deliveries of construction equipment associated with the lifting of the Double Keepers’ Quarters at the Ocracoke lighthouse are scheduled to occur the week of Dec. 9.
During the deliveries, Lighthouse Road—between approximately Loop Road and Martha Jane Lane—will be closed for up to 30 minutes.
Loop Road will remain accessible for those looking for an alternate route during the closures.
The contractor, Terra Site Constructors LLC, plans to have staff to flag and control traffic whenever the large delivery trucks block access along Lighthouse Road.
Cape Hatteras National Seashore is in the process of notifying owners of homes adjacent to the temporary road closures.
“The lifting plan for the Double Keepers’ Quarters required additional time due to the tight conditions around the building, the presence of two large masonry cisterns, and extensive above ground branching and underground root network from the large live oak trees,” NPS Outer Banks Group spokesperson Mike Barber said. “The plan helps ensure minimal impacts to the historic structure and landscape.”
Barber said the project is expected to be completed before the summer of 2025.
Built in 1823, the Ocracoke Light Station Double Keepers’ Quarters has been closed off to visitors since the last keeper left in 1950s.
A $3.6 million project began earlier this year to raise the Double Keepers’ Quarters an estimated five feet to protect against future storm surge, mold and lead-based paint and asbestos remediation, repair interior and exterior storm damage, construction of a concrete pathway and an ADA lift for visitors and raising other light station buildings.
The first floor of the Double Keepers’ Quarters will also be transformed into a Visitors Center.
The price tag of $3.6M seems excessive and bloated. The Methodist church was raised and repaired for $500,000 or 7.2 times less money.
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