AFTER IT was closed briefly following Labor Day, the historic Whalers Cabin Museum at Point Lobos State Reserve reopened this week with a new barn shake roof — and a slightly displaced bat population.

The nonprofit Point Lobos Foundation — with help from the California State Parks Foundation and Monterey Peninsula Foundation — raised $27,000 to pay for the work, which was complicated not only by the task of recreating a 160-year-old handmade barn shake roof, but by the challenge of not harming any bats during the construction. At least two species of bats were living under the roof when the project began. “We had to pick a time of year when the bats were hibernating or nesting,” explained Augie Louis, a Point Lobos Foundation board member.

To protect the bats during construction, a consultant was hired. “When a bat was found, the consultant captured it and released it after dark,” Louis said.

Bats are vulnerable to predators such as birds if they’re released during the day, according to Louis.

The Point Lobos Foundation, meanwhile, continues its support of local state parks, which have seen their budgets slashed during the economic downturn. Sandy Hale, the foundation’s president, said that “with continued pressure on state budgets, private and public partnerships will likely be a key source of funds to maintain state parks facilities over the coming years.”

Constructed in 1851 by Chinese fishermen, the cabin has housed Japanese whalers, Japanese abalone divers, World War II soldiers, and state parks ranger Chuck Bancroft, who lived there in the mid-1980s. Since 1987, the cabin — which overlooks Whalers Cove — has served as a museum dedicated to the reserve’s cultural history. It was added to the National Registry of Historic Places in 2007.