Historic buildings on NC’s Outer Banks will be lifted as much as 4 feet. Here’s why

Four historic buildings at Cape Hatteras National Seashore in North Carolina will be raised as much as 4 feet to keep them from succumbing to rising sea levels, the National Park Service says.

The $3.6 million project starts in December and will focus on the 200-year-old Ocracoke Light Station, which includes the “second oldest lighthouse still in service in the United States.”

Lifting the 75-foot-tall lighthouse is not part of the plan. But most of the surrounding buildings will be elevated over the next 12 months, including the Double Keepers’ Quarters, Store House, Carpenter’s Shop, Generator House and Privy, officials say. The Generator House is the only one not considered an historic structure.

All are endangered due to the combined impact of climate change and sea level rise, park officials say.

“The Ocracoke Light Station rehabilitation project is needed because historic structures have been damaged from recent storms and, if the buildings are left as they are, it is expected that they will be damaged further by future storms,” park officials said in a 2022 report.

Eighteen inches of storm surge filled the Double Keepers’ Quarters during Hurricane Dorian in 2019, park officials say.

It is to be raised more than 4 feet in anticipation of “potentially stronger storms and higher water levels,” officials said. The Store House, Carpenter’s Shop, Generator House and Privy will be lifted 2 feet “on concrete masonry piers with concrete footers.”

Elevating the structures was one of three alternatives considered by the park. The other two were letting nature take its course, or removing the popular Double Keepers’ Quarters and placing it “with a ghost structure, which would mimic the size, shape and location of the existing building.”

The changes are coming as the Ocracoke Lighthouse complex celebrates its 200th anniversary.

Land for the lighthouse was purchased for $50 in 1822 and construction was finished in 1823, park officials say. The light still serves as a navigation aid and can be seen 14 miles away on a clear night.

This story was originally published November 29, 2023 at 1:45 PM with the headline "Historic buildings on NC’s Outer Banks will be lifted as much as 4 feet. Here’s why."