HAMPTON, Va. — The batteries at Fort Monroe may have looked a little rough as of Tuesday, they were expected be looking much better in a few weeks and be better protected from the elements thanks to a new coat of paint.
The Old Point Comport lighthouse was covered with plastic as a contractor hired by the U.S. Coast Guard worked to remove lead paint from.
The work was being done in anticipation of the Coast Guard turning control of the lighthouse over to the Fort Monroe Authority by the end of 2025.
Watch: Hometown History: The famous Sergeant Patches from Fort Monroe
If and when that happens, the authority was planning to then begin restoration work on the more-than-200-year-old structure.
The Fort's newest feature, the First Landing Plaza, was on track to open in late summer 2025.
It commemorates the location where the first enslaved Africans arrived in America.
Watch: Fort Monroe marks 'African Landing Day' with ceremony at future monument site
“It’s going to get really interesting out here as Fort Monroe begins its evolution as a public landscape. Bringing the lighthouse into relation with the African Landing Memorial into relation with the battery behind me, and then to the ecology, all the wildlife that surrounds us as well. We’re seeing the landscape really begin to shape and find its story," said Fort Monroe Authority CEO Scott Martin.
Restoration work on the lighthouse is expected to take about a year once it starts. Development of the First Landing Plaza will continue once the initial phase is complete and open to the public.
