After 15 years of fundraising and planning, restoration of the World War II Artillery Fire Control Tower #3 in Dewey Beach is set to begin.
The Delaware Seashore Preservation Foundation (DSPF), the Fort Miles Historical Associationand Delaware State Parks recently announced restoration will start in October.
Foundation board member Ernie Felici notes that the ongoing coronavirus pandemic really pushed them to get the project rolling now.
“We also felt at this point with COVID and the price of materials and construction that this was our real window of opportunity to do this. Because if we did not go forward with it, our fear was - again - prices would have increased by another couple hundred thousand and we’d be kicking the can down the road to the point where we couldn’t really afford it,” said Felici.
The restoration effort is expected to cost $1.1 million and includes modifications to the Tower #3 interior
DSPF president Larry Brown says preliminary work has been underway for two years and now the contractor, Delmarva Veteran Builders, is ready start the interior work.
“The Tower as it was originally constructed - when it was manned - there were ladders that went the full distance from the ground up to the roof observation deck. And naturally we can’t have visitors climbing ladders, so they’re (the contractor) going in there and the new design has a number of switchback staircases internally," said Brown.
Along with the stairs, steel landing areas will be installed for interpretive displays and a new rooftop observation deck will be built.
The work by Delmarva Veteran Builders is expected to be finished by early summer 2022.
