Lighthouse Shines at Cape Hatteras Again

The Cape Hatteras lighthouse beacon was lighted, completing a controversial $9.8-million relocation that saved the nation’s tallest brick lighthouse from being threatened by the sea that beats against the North Carolina coast. People along Outer Banks beaches cheered as the beacon atop the 198-foot tower resumed rotating after being out for nearly a year during the move inland. County officials and a local businessman at one time filed suit to block the U.S. Park Service’s decision to move the lighthouse to a new foundation about 1,600 feet from the shoreline. But bad feelings diminished as tourists kept streaming to the Outer Banks to see the lighthouse with its distinctive spiral stripes. The lighthouse will be reopened to tourists next Memorial Day weekend, after a new parking lot and walkways are built.