Contact Name:	Pete Marvin, (503), 842-3182, ext. 222
Contact Email:	pete.marvin@state.or.us

Cape Meares Lighthouse will remain closed to the public until next year as additional improvements are made in the restoration of the 113-year-old structure.

Park Manager Pete Marvin announced that the lighthouse, including its interpretive store, will open again April 1, 2004. The building normally closes for the season October 31, reopening again the next spring. The lighthouse has been closed since mid-June.

“Thanks to some additional cosmetic improvements, we’ve been able to go ahead with, the lighthouse is going to look even better than we had anticipated when it reopens,” said Marvin. “We apologize for having it closed all this time, but we are dealing with a very old, weather-battered building and all the construction surprises that can mean. Everyone concerned with its restoration—the Friends of Cape Meares Lighthouse and Wildlife Refuge, the contractor, and our Oregon Parks and Recreation Department engineering and park staff—have wanted to proceed carefully to ensure that we have a safe, well-preserved lighthouse that visitors can enjoy for another century.”

A generous donation from the Friends of Cape Meares Lighthouse and Wildlife Refuge and state lottery dollars from OPRD's Parks and Natural Resource Fund is financing the restoration. The friends group operates the lighthouse interpretive store.

The Cape Meares Lighthouse and its 38-foot tower, the shortest such watchtower on the Oregon coast, stands 217 feet above the ocean. It is the centerpiece of the 233-acre Cape Meares State Scenic Viewpoint, 10 miles west of Tillamook on the Three Capes Scenic Loop.

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OPRD photos are available for download.

Direct general media inquiries to:

Chris Havel
Director's Office
chris.havel@state.or.us
(503) 986-0722

OR

Jean Thompson
Public Services Division
jean.thompson@state.or.us
(503) 986-0667

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