Fort Fisher’s New Visitor Center to Open to the Public Oct. 30

A little more than two years after construction began and local flooding delayed the opening, the new visitor center at Fort Fisher State Historic Site will open to the public Wednesday, Oct. 30 from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Admission is free.

The new two-story visitor center, which has been in planning since 2010, cost approximately $25.5 million and is expected to serve more than 1 million visitors annually. At 20,000 square feet, it is approximately three times the size of its 1965 predecessor.

The centerpiece of the visitor center is a new exhibit that interprets a full and nuanced history of the site. Encompassing centuries of regional history, from pre-colonial times through Fort Fisher’s role in World War II, the "Through Their Eyes" exhibit is built on numerous historical perspectives. Rather than a collection of dates and battles, the exhibit powerfully centers men, women, and children from a multitude of backgrounds, eras, and experiences.

The new visitor center (1610 Fort Fisher Blvd S, Kure Beach) has nearly twice the exhibit space of the former, plus amenities like a 100-seat orientation theater, an expanded gift shop, and a multipurpose room suitable for rentals such as banquets, wedding receptions, educational activities, and classroom instruction. Along the tour trail, visitors can view reconstructed earthworks — specifically, the fort’s 6th, 7th, and 8th traverses — a center sally port, and an ammunition magazine with a working tunnel system.

Known as the "Gibraltar of the South," Fort Fisher protected the port of Wilmington during the American Civil War until it fell to U.S. forces in January 1865. In 1961, the site was designated a National Historic Landmark. Its original visitor center was built to accommodate an expected 25,000 visitors a year.