Kill Devil Hills, NC
December 4, 2003

Due to the intensive site preparation and construction taking place to ready Wright Brothers National Memorial for the First Flight Centennial Celebration, the site will be closed to the public December 8 - 11. The park will reopen at 8 a.m. on December 12, the first day of the six-day First Flight Centennial Celebration. The event runs from December 12 to December 17.

"Visitor safety is our primary concern in making this closure," stated Lawrence A. Belli, Superintendent, National Park Service Outer Banks Group. "There will be a lot of heavy equipment work taking place in all visitor use areas of the park. Closing the park will allow crews to quickly and safely ready the park for this once in a lifetime event."

Ticket sales for the December 16 and 17 event days have reached the 35,000-person maximum, and tickets are no longer available for those days. Tickets still remain for event days December 13 - 15. December 12 is anon-ticketed day. Event planners have set the daily maximum capacity of the park at 35,000 attendees in order to provide the best visitor experience.

Advance general admission ticket sales for the First Flight Centennial Celebration will end on Sunday December 7 at 10 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. This cutoff date has been set to provide adequate time to mail advance ticket orders to purchasers so that tickets are received before December 12, the first day of the event. Tickets may be purchased between 10 a.m. and 10 p.m. Eastern Standard Time online at www.wrightbrothers.reserveworld.com or by calling 1-800-937-7327 or (301) 722-1257 for callers outside of the United States.

Themes for the six days include: December 1--IGNITING THE IMAGINATION; December 13-14--REMEMBER THE PAST, IMAGINE THE FUTURE; December 15--PROTECTING THE HOME OF THE BRAVE; December 16-- IN HISTORY'S FOOTSTEPS, CELEBRATING 100 AVIATION PIONEERS; and December 17--TWELVE SECONDS THAT CHANGED THE WORLD.

Senior citizens age 62 and over, and disabled individuals may purchase a daily ticket for $5 each, while available. Although children age 12 and under are free, they still need a ticket to enter the park.

The ticket entitles the ticket holder to shuttle transportation between Wright Brothers National Memorial and designated remote parking sites plus access to all buildings, grounds, exhibits and performances open to the general public at the Memorial during the event. Seating is not included in the price; chairs may be rented on site.

All of the most recent information on the First Flight Centennial Celebration can be accessed at the Centennial website on www.firstflightcentennial.org. For information on accommodations, check the Outer Banks Visitors Bureau website at www.outerbanks.org or call their toll-free number at (877) 298-4373. For information on the event's transportation plan, see http://www.ncdot.org/news/centennialceleb11_03.html

Contact:

National Park Service
Outer Banks Group
1401 National Park Road
Manteo, NC 27954

Erin Porter
252 441 6291 ext. 224
ErinPorterNPS@aol.com