WEBVTT

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Intro music.

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Long before it had a name, Cape Canaveral was an important landmark

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appearing on navigational charts since the early 1500s.

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And long before the point of land was dotted by launch gantries

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that send rockets skyward, another tower dominated the landscape.

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Now this oldest standing structure -- the Cape Canaveral Lighthouse --

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is undergoing a restoration project to restore it to its former glory.

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Owned by the U.S. Air Force, the lighthouse refurbishment began in dramatic fashion.

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"We're getting ready to remove the lamp room from the Cape Canaveral Lighthouse.

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The last time that we believe that this lamp room was removed, or bolted if you will,

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was in 1894 whenever it was moved to this position. We're going to send it off

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for complete refurbishment and a change of the cupola. The very top of the lighthouse is not the original.

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The original now is up at Oak Hill at the contractor's plant and whenever it comes back

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after refurbishment the original top will be on the lighthouse."

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Normal exposure to the elements and the 2004 hurricane season took their toll

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on the structure that has aided mariners since 1868.

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Among other effects, the hurricanes caused significant damage to the distinctive "daymark" --

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the black-and-white painted horizontal stripes that identify the Cape Canaveral Lighthouse.

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"We're going to do a complete paint from the outside. If you notice at the top of the lighthouse now,

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you'll see a gallery, hand rails, and walk way. Much of that is going to be replaced.

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The paint will be completely removed. All pits will be sealed,

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weep holes will be opened and the lighthouse will be repainted."

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The current restoration is just the beginning of things to come from a long-term partnership

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between the Air Force and the Cape Canaveral Lighthouse Foundation.

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"What we're hoping is to be able to complete the complex. The lighthouse was formerly surrounded by several buildings,

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mainly the keeper's cottage and two assistant keepers' cottages. The foundation is hoping to restore

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those to the property so that the public can view what it was like during the turn of the century.

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We also hope to be able to set up an educational center so that generations

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can see what was happening here at the lighthouse and at Cape Canaveral."

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Thanks to these efforts, the historic Cape Canaveral Lighthouse

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will continue to shine across the waters of the coastal Atlantic.

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