SUNSET BEACH — A tower that was once used to spot enemy ships during World War II and aim large guns here will open as a tourist attraction March 27 following an initial $1.3 million restoration by Mid Atlantic Center for the Arts (MAC).

Its official name is Fire Control Tower 23 but it had nothing to with spotting forest fires. It was used to aim huge guns located in the bunker on the beach near the Cape May Lighthouse along with a tower that has been engulfed by Cape May’s Grand Hotel and others in the Wildwoods.

Bill Ten Eyck, MAC chief operating officer, led the Herald through the tower Thursday Jan. 15. Installation of winding stairways to get visitors from level to level has just been completed.

The tower was built in June 1942 by using a sliding tube-shaped form. A ring of reinforced concrete was poured.
When that solidified, the form was slid up and more concrete was poured. The whole process took only two and a half days, according to a MAC press release.

It was part of Fort Miles, which include a number of fire control towers, gun batteries, plus barracks and support buildings, on both sides of Delaware Bay. By World War II, the military used a spread-out series of towers and batteries, whose firing ranges overlapped, to protect a large territory.
Its largest guns and headquarters were located on the Delaware side (in what is now Cape Henlopen State Park), since the shipping channel hugs the Southern shore of Delaware Bay.
The gun batteries and towers of Fort Miles were designed to destroy German battleships. Giant underwater nets prevented submarines from entering Delaware Bay.

Lurking out in the ocean, submarines were largely invisible from the towers on shore. Instead, it took teams of American aircraft with bombs and naval vessels with sonar and depth charges to track down and destroy the German U-boats.

Ten Eyck said the tower contained a lookout room at the top plus a day room and watch room. It had a pot bellied stove for heat. He said the tower was built to withstand an artillery blast.

The biggest challenge for MAC was deciding how to get visitors to the top level of the building, which is only 15 feet in diameter, and still leave room for interpretative exhibits.
While the Cape May Lighthouse uses a spiral staircase to get visitors to the top, the tower uses a spiral staircase with “switchbacks,” said Ten Eyck.

Military personnel climbed what looked like ship’s ladders to ascend the tower’s six levels, which were offset so no one would fall from the top of the tower to the bottom floor. The furthest someone could fall was 15 feet, said Ten Eyck.

The refinished roof features a new fence around it but visitors will not have access to that level. While doors and windows in the tower rotted away over the year, the concrete structure remained relatively unscathed.
New windows were installed throughout the tower including the lookout room at the top.

About 100,000 visitors climb the Cape May Lighthouse each year. Ten Eyck said MAC would be excited if half that many climb the tower. He noted there is plenty of traffic on Sunset Boulevard leading to the Concrete Ship.

While the tower will open March 27 at noon, a grand opening ceremony will be held May 16.
Fire Control Tower 23 will become a part of MAC World War II history tours perhaps pairing it with visits to Delaware’s towers and tours of the Battleship New Jersey, said Ten Eyck.
For those who just want to climb the tower at Sunset Beach, admission will be $6 for adults and $2.50 for children.