Elizabethan Gardens close to naming new chief

ROANOKE ISLAND, N.C. 

With about 40 applicants so far, a new executive director for the Elizabethan Gardens is expected to be hired "very shortly," June Bell, the chairwoman of the gardens' Board of Governors, said Thursday.

The position has been vacant since late February, when Horace Whitfield resigned unexpectedly after seven years, Bell said.

Bell declined to elaborate on Whitfield's resignation.

Whitfield, a Manteo resident, did not immediately return a call for comment.

Founded and supported by the Garden Club of North Carolina, the Elizabethan Gardens memorializes the Roanoke colonists who sailed from England to Roanoke Island in the 1580s.

The 10.5-acre site, owned by the Roanoke Island Historical Association, opened in 1960.

Prior to accepting the job at the Elizabethan Gardens, Whitfield served 11 years as captain of the Elizabeth II.

The 16th-century replica sailing ship is moored at Roanoke Island Festival Park.

Bell said that advertising for the position, which has a starting salary of $65,000, will end Saturday.