For Immediate Release – July 24, 2019
The Visitor Center at Hunting Island is in the process of being transformed. Old static displays have been replaced by a beautiful, full-surround mural, painted by Aki Kato, a Beaufort resident and career artist. Breaking the linear mural will be ¾-life-sized sculptures of birds flying into the room, and a loggerhead sea turtle will reside in a plexiglass case. The sculptures will be made of papier mache by classically-trained, Hilton Head Island sculptor, Kelly Richard.
The educational information that was in the text on the old walls has been captured in five short videos. Guests will operate the monitor with a touch screen beginning sometime in November. In addition, there will be a small theater area for showing longer films, including one on the lighthouse history.
Merlin Redfern, a retired professor of architecture and former Friends of Hunting Island board member, built a swing bridge replica of the historic Harbor River Bridge, which will soon be replaced by a new, modern bridge. The replica will open and close like the real bridge does. The swing bridge was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Depression to create the park by allowing access to this paradisiacal barrier island.
Eventually, the room will house a virtual lighthouse for those people who cannot climb the stairs to see the view from the top. The virtual lighthouse will show a nearly 360-degree video of the view at sunrise, mid-day, sunset, and night. That portion of the project will begin in 2020.
The renovation project is funded by South Carolina Parks, Recreation, and Tourism; Friends of Hunting Island; SC Department of Transportation; and County A-Tax Funding. J.W. Weatherford, Hunting Island State Park Manager, and Friend of Hunting Island oversee the day-to-day work on the room.
For additional information, contact:
Carol Corbin, VP, Friends of Hunting Island, carolcorbin@yahoo.com; 770-265-7630
Aki Kato, muralist, akikatostudio@gmail.com; 843-263-8712
Kelly Richard, sculptor, akellyrichard@aol.com; 410-353-4132
J.W. Weatherford, Hunting Island State Park Manager, jweatherford@scprt.com