The lighthouse at Hunting Island has been closed to climbing so that plans for its much needed restoration project can move forward.
The lighthouse saw its final climbers last Wednesday, and the official word from Friends of Hunting Island is that there is no time table for its reopening. “The Complex and grounds will remain open for interpretation tours and visitation, and as far as reopening, the engineers will have a more definitive idea once they begin the restoration process.” FOHI said in a release.
After standing strong while looking over the Atlantic Ocean for almost 150 years, officials at Hunting Island State Park say the historic Lighthouse is well overdue for restoration and repairs.
It’s essentially water and moisture. Moisture is what you don’t want in a cast iron or masonry building, much less one that’s been open for 146 years, reports have stated.
State Park officials got the money they were looking for from state lawmakers in the Department of Parks, Recreation & Tourism’s 2021-2022 budget to perform the work.
In February 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic changed everything, only six people at a time had been allowed to climb the 167 steps of the lighthouse, after an assessment by engineers with Bennett Preservation Engineering in Charleston found rusted cast iron and cracks throughout the structure.
Before then, officials were letting 15 people up into the lighthouse at a time in an effort to provide access to as many people as safely possible, without pushing the limit on the old structure.
The work may take up to two years to complete. While it’s closed, Hunting Island State Park will launch a virtual reality experience at the Visitors Center for folks to simulate the climb up to the top.
According to South Carolina State Parks, the lighthouse was also closed for repairs in May 2003 when cracks were discovered in several of its cast-iron steps. In a renovation that spanned more than 18 months, construction crews not only repaired the cracks, but installed steel braces beneath them for reinforcement. Left unpainted, the silver-gray braces stand out in sharp contrast to the black cast-iron stairs. The contrast helps distinguish between the original structure and modern improvements, which protect the lighthouse’s historic integrity.
Built in 1859, the original Hunting Island lighthouse was blown up in 1861 by the retreating Confederate Army to slow the Union Army down, so the lighthouse we cherish today as part of our home is actually the re-built lighthouse, completed in 1875.
It was constructed of interchangeable cast-iron sections so it could be dismantled in case it ever needed to be moved. Then just over a decade later in 1889, severe beach erosion made it necessary to relocate the lighthouse 1.3 miles inland to its present location. Read more of its history here.
