After standing strong while looking over the Atlantic Ocean for more than 140 years, officials at Hunting Island State Park say the historic Hunting Island Lighthouse is well overdue for repairs.
Since February 2019, only six people at a time have been allowed to climb the 167 steps of the lighthouse, after an assessment last year by engineers with Bennett Preservation Engineering in Charleston found rusted cast iron and cracks throughout the structure.
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 145 years, reports have stated.
Recently, 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. Officials will stick to the six at a time rule until the lighthouse is closed for the repairs.
Dawn Dawson-House, with the South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism, has said that proposed renovations could cost $3 million.
No schedule for repairs has been set, but it won’t happen for a good while. Officials are looking for money in the 2020-2021 budget to perform the work.
In 1861, the original Hunting Island lighthouse was blown up by the retreating Confederates 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. Read more of its history here.
It’ll be awhile until we experience any work there as the lighthouse undergoes its restoration….but you better get there to visit while you still can, just in case she takes a short break.
