Whalehead Club looks to hook more visitors to N.C.

COROLLA

Sunset views on the Currituck Sound from the Whalehead Club could become a draw - like Mallory Square is in Key West - and boost stagnant attendance at the historic site.

The Whalehead Club board and Currituck County commissioners are considering that and other plans, including a new caretakers house for gatherings, an amphitheater and a vendor area. Improvements would happen over 10 to 15 years and cost about $5 million.

"They're looking at a lot of stuff," said Vance Aydlett, chairman of the Currituck County commissioners. "Nothing's concrete. It's a living plan, so to speak."

The hunt club and vacation home was built in the 1920s by a sugar and railroad magnate. Now restored and county-owned, it draws about 17,000 annually.

The nearby Currituck Beach Lighthouse and the Outer Banks Center for Wildlife Education each draw about 100,000.

All three sites are part of Heritage Park and use a lot of the same parking area. A nonprofit owns the lighthouse and the state owns the wildlife center.

On sunny weekends, families crowd the beaches. But in bad weather, more look for other entertainment. A museum-like house does not compete well with a climb to the top of a lighthouse or a free tour of the wildlife center, said Currituck Commissioner John Rorer.

"Every year the costs go up with no difference in net income," Rorer said. "I'm very much encouraged they are breaking out of their little square and doing something to improve attendance at the Whalehead Club."

The Whalehead Club earns about $300,000 annually in tours and from the gift shop. The county supplements the budget with about $900,000 annually, depending on capital needs.

Rorer would like to see sunset over the Currituck Sound become a daily attraction, much like Mallory Square in Key West, Fla., where a festival is held each evening to celebrate the sunset.

Sound views would be part of an effort to bring more people to the 39-acre grounds for fishing, crabbing and outdoor weddings, said Bill Richardson, chairman of the Whalehead Preservation Trust.

Weddings and wine, music and art festivals are already popular. New walkways would make it easier to walk the grounds and between the lighthouse, the wildlife center and the Whalehead Club.

A new caretakers house would be available for gatherings. It would cost about $1 million to build, but if it could pay for itself, the county would build it, Rorer said.

"I think that would be a home run," he said.

Corolla residents are concerned with noise, lights and traffic that would come with vendors and an amphitheater.

"The vendor area is probably the biggest thing," said Corolla resident Will Taylor.

Locals have no problem with internal improvements, he said. Vendors would work in about 19 white tents in a front corner of the grounds near N.C. 12 and could draw from the lighthouse crowds or from people attending a performance at the proposed amphitheater.

Mainland residents could use the vendor area and sell homemade goods or fresh seafood, Aydlett said.

"Somebody could go in there with 25 or 30 bushels of crabs for sale," Aydlett said.

They would not compete with Corolla businesses, he said.