We would like to thank Pat Kenney, Superintendent of Cape Lookout National Seashore, for the following report:
“Friends of Portsmouth Island,
I suspect you are wondering about the park and in particular Portsmouth Village. Overall, the park was lucky since we took a direct hit. Throughout the park we have lots of facilities that were impacted by the storm, most of them are relatively minor, but it all adds up.
Yesterday I visited Portsmouth Village with Michael Rikard and Dave Frum and we looked over the village. There is minor damage to roofs and windows on many of the buildings. The non-historic widow’s walk on the Carl Dixon house was blown off of the structure. And it appears the church did experience some additional impacts. None of the buildings were flooded by the tide.
We just received the draft Historic Structure Report that was developed to direct the rehab project of the church. This Hurricane Sandy project is going to start later this summer. The Historic Preservation Training Center (HPTC) is leading this effort. These are the folks that did the work on the Wash Roberts House.
Due to our concerns from the additional impacts from Hurricane Arthur, HPTC is bringing in a crew next week to do temporary stabilization of the church to prevent additional damage.
We will be submitting the damage assessment reports and funding requests and hopefully monies will be provided to address this latest round of hurricane damage.
Also, I want you to know that we are working on a proposal for funding to look at the future of Portsmouth Village. This is one of the highest planning needs for the park. We need a plan that looks at the future of the village. If we receive these funds, there will be a public process.
Patrick M. Kenney, Superintendent, CLNS”
Editor’s Note: Check FPI’s Facebook page for a picture of the church taken on July 8. Photo taken by Michael Rikard.