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ABOVE: 77?e ifcwwowc/ pattern on tne Gape Lookout Lighthouse distinguishes it from other lighthouses 



■J. As Madge Guthrie looks up at dia- 

 mond patterns on the Cape Lookout Lighthouse, 

 she recalls the lighthouse as a playhouse for 

 youngsters on Core Banks. 



"As a child, I would run up and down the 

 stairs all day," says Guthrie, whose mother was 

 the last teacher at the Lookout school. "There 

 were 300 or 400 people living on the island until 

 the '33 hurricane cut the island into two pieces, 

 making Shackleford and Cape Lookout islands. 

 It also destroyed the fertility of the land, bringing 

 the final exodus from the Cape and the Banks." 



Guthrie and others shared their memories at 

 a transfer of the lighthouse from the U.S. Coast 

 Guard to the National Park Service last year. 



By Ann Green 



For years, the lighthouse has been a land- 

 mark to mariners, warning boaters of the treach- 

 erous 10-mile shoals extending off the Cape. 



Superintendent Bob Vogel says that the 

 park service plans to restore the lighthouse 

 — which is located on Core Banks along Cape 

 Lookout National Seashore near Beaufort — so 

 that the public can go inside. 



"The restoration process will take the sup- 

 port of the entire community and will undoubt- 

 edly take several years to complete," says Vogel. 

 "Early estimates for the lighthouse restoration 

 are $1.5 to $2 million. If you consider that the 

 lighthouse was built in 1859, it is in remarkably 

 good condition. The cast iron stairs need to be 



made safer for visitors." 



The nonprofit Friends of Cape Lookout 

 National Seashore was formed to support the 

 park service's efforts to preserve, restore and 

 enhance the seashore that stretches from Ports- 

 mouth Village to Shackelford Banks. 



One of the new group's first missions is to 

 partner with the Outer Banks Lighthouse Society 

 to gain support and funds for the renovation. 



"The lighthouse is the symbol of the park," 

 says Richard Meissner, spokesperson for the 

 Friends of Cape Lookout National Seashore. 

 "Certainly, there is a lot of public interest in hav- 

 ing the lighthouse painted. She is a noble lady 

 and needs tender-loving care." 



Hp* 



Continued 



COASTWATCH 



