Editing Fort Wool (section)

==Decommissioning and present==
The fort was decommissioned in 1953<ref name="NatReg"/> and given to the Commonwealth of Virginia. In the 1950s, the [[Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel|Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel (HRBT)]] was constructed next to Fort Wool, with its southern island connected to the fort by an earthen causeway. The HRBT opened to traffic in 1957. In 1967 and again in 1970, the city of Hampton developed the fort into a park, accessed by the passenger ferry ''Miss Hampton II''. The fort can also be seen by westbound vehicles on approach to the HRBT southern tunnel, which carries [[Interstate 64]] across the mouth of [[Hampton Roads]].<ref name="dp" />

The island, now called [[Rip Raps]], continues to settle, and occasionally the casemates of the original fortress are off-limits for safety reasons.<ref name="dp" /> On 28 April 2007, a [[garrison flag]] was raised over Fort Wool for the first time. This took place during a parade of [[tall ships]] sailing past the fort, part of the 400th anniversary celebrations of the settlement of [[Jamestown, Virginia|Jamestown]]. In 2020 the fort was converted into a bird sanctuary, and routine public access was terminated.<ref>[https://wset.com/news/at-the-capitol/gov-northams-plan-to-protect-migratory-birds-includes-island-for-nesting-bird-managemen "Plan to protect migratory birds" at WSET.com, 15 February 2020]</ref>